v-w 


HV 
877 


T-.'P>T»T»I  11     - 


\V  inn  ing   the  boy. 


Southern  Branch 
of  the 

University  of  California 


Los  Angeles 


Form  L  1 


HV 

877 

K55 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 

SEP  8     1924 

NOV  1  2  1924 

i  6  J93 
10 


Form  L-9-5m-12,'23 


WINNING  THE  BOY 


Winning  The   Boy 


By  LILBURN  MERRILL,  M.  D. 


With  an   Introduction  by 

JUDGE  BEN  B.  LINDSEY 

President  of  the  International  Juvenile  Court  Society 


NEW  YORK        CHICAGO         TORONTO 
Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

LONDON        AND        EDINBURGH 


Copyright,  1908,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPAN  * 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  123  North  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  Street,  W. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  100  Princes  Street 


YW 


nr 


INTRODUCTION 

HERE  is  unquestionably  a  crying 
need  for  books  on  the  boy  problem. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  any  longer  to 
emphasize  its  importance.     There  is  a  real 
demand  for  practical,  helpful  advice  in  deal- 
ing with  the  sacred  subject  of  childhood. 

Reformation  nas  been  attempted  through 
outward  influences,  frequently  embracing 
force  and  violence.  The  criminal  court,  the 
jail,  the  prison,  are  all  institutions  designed 
originally  to  bring  about  reformation.  They 
did  nothing  of  the  kind.  They  perhaps 
protected  society  and,  as  believed  by  some, 
furnished  an  example  to  the  individual  that 
acted  as  a  deterrent  to  crime.  But  every 
worker  for  childhood,  whether  the  father  in 
the  home,  the  teacher  in  the  school,  the  pro- 
bation officer  or  the  judge  of  the  juvenile  court 
—  all  are  agreed  that  formation  is  the  thing 
that  we  most  need  in  dealing  with  the  human 
character,  and  formation  comes  from  within 
5 


6  INTRODUCTION 

through  the  human  heart  and  not  from  with- 
out through  iron  bars  or  any  other  methods 
of  force  and  violence,  whether  nagging  and 
faultfinding  in  the  home  or  detention  behind 
stone  walls.  Mankind  must  be  redeemed 
through  love,  and  love  works  through  the 
human  heart,  and  the  ennobling  emotions  of 
the  human  heart  are  aroused  through  the 
personal  touch,  contact,  and  influence  of  in- 
dividuals whose  hearts  beat  true  to  the  higher 
things  of  life. 

Back  of  the  scheme  of  formation,  or,  if  you 
would  have  it,  reformation,  known  as  the 
juvenile  court,  is  one  continual  struggle  to 
put  a  little  love  into  the  law.  Some  one  has 
said  that  "  Love  without  justice  may  be  senti- 
ment and  weakness,"  but  there  can  be  no  real 
justice  without  love. 

There  is  no  created  thing  more  marvellous 
than  the  budding  child.  Love  and  hate, 
peace  and  fear,  pleasure  and  pain,  despair 
and  hope — all  these  wonderful  emotions  of 
the  human  soul  are  there,  and  how  we  have 
gone  ahead  in  our  blind,  brutal  way,  of  deal- 
ing with  the  "  thing" — an  act  by  the  individual 


INTRODUCTION  7 

— and  not  with  the  divine  creature  made 
up  of  all  these  wonderful  pulsations  of  the 
human  heart,  is  one  of  the  most  brutal,  bar- 
barous things  in  the  history  of  jurisprudence. 

When  you  seek  to  win  a  boy,  go  after  his 
heart.  But  you  can't  get  his  heart  by  send- 
ing him  to  jail ;  and  you  can't  win  him  by  an 
act  which  is  puerile  or  weak.  Learn  to  sym- 
pathize. Sympathy  is  the  divinest  quality 
of  the  human  heart.  It  was  the  secret  of  the 
winnings  of  our  Master  when  He  trod  the 
earth  ;  but  no  one  ever  accused  Him  of  de- 
fending or  justifying  sin. 

I  believe  I  know  that  erring  youth  as  a  rule 
cannot  be  brought  to  truth  and  light  through 
the  ways  of  force  and  violence,  of  hate  and 
despair,  and,  on  general  principles,  every 
method  which  is  backed  by  these  hideous 
monsters  is  false  and  bad.  It  may  furnish  a 
short  cut  but  it  is  a  dangerous  path.  Its  effect 
is  temporary,  not  lasting,  and  it  has  no  per- 
manent winnings,  for,  like  the  disease  dosed 
with  bad  medicine,  if  it  disappears  we  know  it 
did  not  disappear  because  of  the  dosing  but 
in  spite  of  it.  The  real  cure  is  a  change  some- 


8  INTRODUCTION 

where  in  the  human  heart.  But  if  the  real 
change  comes  it  comes  through  the  spark  of 
love  from  somewhere  because  of  a  conviction 
from  within  that  evil  is  bad  and  must  be  cast  out. 
The  boys  who  are  really  reformed  are 
those  who  want  to  do  right  and  not  those 
who  have  to  do  right.  Society  may  be  pro- 
tected as  long  as  they  have  to  do  right ;  but 
you  have  not  a  really  safe  citizen  until  there 
comes  into  the  boy's  heart  the  desire  to  do 
right  because  it  is  right.  I  have  visited  the 
jail  in  nearly  every  large  city  in  this  country, 
and  have  talked  to  the  boys  in  those  jails.  I 
find  they  are  the  victims  largely  of  fear,  and 
fear  comes  from  an  undeveloped  heart. 
I  ask  the  boy  why  he  will  not  steal  again  and 
he  invariably  replies,  "  Because  I  will  get  in 
jail."  He  is  afraid  of  a  jail ;  he  is  not  afraid 
to  do  wrong.  A  boy  can  be  taught  to  do 
right  because  it  is  right ;  but  that  kind  of 
teaching  deals  with  the  heart  rather  than  the 
head.  If  he  has  been  taught  rightly  and 
effectively,  he  will  not  answer  as  a  boy  did 
last  week  when  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not 
tell  his  father  the  truth.  He  said,  "  Because 


INTRODUCTION  9 

I  would  get  a  licking."  The  man  or  boy 
whose  heart  is  right  will  suffer  pain,  will  be 
burned  at  the  stake  or  nailed  to  the  cross  in 
standing  for  the  right ;  and  these  things  have 
for  him  no  terror.  We  shall  never  get  strong 
boys  until  we  get  those  who  have  a  con- 
science. Conscience  comes  through  training 
of  the  heart  rather  than  the  head.  Con- 
science is  the  moral  director  ;  without  it  char- 
acter is  impossible,  and  character  is  the  great- 
est need,  for  it  means  that  the  pure  in  heart 
shall  see  and  know  and  act  the  truth,  as 
surely  as  they  shall  see  God. 

I  first  met  Dr.  Merrill  as  a  young  man 
conducting  a  boys'  club  in  one  of  those  dis- 
tricts in  Denver,  to  be  found  in  all  cities 
where  poor  people  congregate,  and  being 
poor  they  have  many  children.  I  found  that 
the  boys  understood  Merrill  and  Merrill  under- 
stood them,  and,  after  all,  as  Dr.  William 
Byron  Forbush  has  well  said,  "The  surest 
way  of  knowing  a  boy  is  to  understand  him." 
But  you  cannot  understand  him  unless  you 
know  something  of  the  human  heart.  I  dis- 
covered in  visiting  that  club  and  observing 


10  INTRODUCTION 

those  boys  and  the  young  man  who  was  add- 
ing so  much  helpfulness  to  their  lives,  that 
he  knew  something  about  the  heart  of  a  boy, 
or  he  could  not  have  had  the  loyalty,  love 
and  obedience  that  was  shown  in  the  acts  as 
well  as  the  faces  of  those  boys.  Later  dur- 
ing the  three  years  that  Doctor  Merrill  was 
associated  with  me  I  found  that  I  had  made 
no  mistake  in  selecting  him  for  that  impor- 
tant work.  By  his  broad  experience  and  emi- 
nent success  in  enterprises  for  boys,  in  the 
Juvenile  Court  of  Denver  and  in  the  Halsted 
Institutional  Church  in  Chicago,  aided  by 
his  study  and  experience  as  a  physician,  no 
man  is  better  equipped  and,  in  my  judg- 
ment, more  capable  of  speaking  and  writing 
entertainingly,  helpfully  and  wisely  upon  this 
subject  than  Doctor  Merrill. 

In  the  following  pages  he  has  brought  to- 
gether, in  an  entertaining  and  instructive 
manner,  some  stories  and  essays  on  boy- 
life  that  every  parent,  teacher,  and  other  in- 
dividual interested  in  children  should  read. 

BEN  B,  LINDSEY. 
Denver,  Col. 


FOREWORD 

ORDINARILY  the  boy  is  all  right.     I 
cannot  say  as  much  for  big"  folk. 
If   I  could,  there  would  be  no  boy 
problem.     The    trouble    is   with    the   adult, 
Boys  are  as  good  as  the  homes  they  come 
from,  which  is  not  saying  that  all  boys  are 
as  good  as  their  mothers.     Sometimes  fathers 
are  not  a  credit  to  their  sons. 

We  and  others  who  preceded  him  have 
made  the  boy.  He  owes  little  to  himself. 
Whether  coming  or  going  he  is  mostly  con- 
cerned about  getting  what  he  can.  And  thus 
it  shall  be  until  he  is  an  individual  big 
enough  to  do  something  for  the  other  fellow. 
Perhaps  it  has  never  occurred  to  you  that 
you  and  I  are  responsible  for  the  boy's  form- 
ing. We  are.  And  we  ought  to  be  as  effi- 
cient at  the  job,  as  faithful,  conscientious 
effort  can  make  us. 

In  these  pages  I  have  tried  to  encourage 
ii 


12  FOREWORD 

an  interest  in  the  boy.  Determine  to  win 
him.  Be  an  ardent  lover.  Be  chummy. 
Then  be  a  searcher.  You  will  find  his  heart 
in  the  out-of-doors.  Or  maybe  you  may  find 
it  in  the  quiet  glow  of  the  hearth  when  he  is 
tired  from  the  game  and  is  sitting  with  his 
arm  around  your  neck  asking  you  to  tell  him 
a.  story. 

LILBURN  MERRILL. 
Changli,  China. 


CONTENTS 

THE  KID'S  HONOUR 15 

THE  HEART  OP  A  BOY    .         ....       33 

JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS  ...  49 
A  BOY,  Two  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS,  AND  A  FRIEND  .  65 
THE  TRANSITION  TO  MANHOOD  ....  79 
A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY  .  .  •  95 
FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS  .  .  .  .113 
RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS  •  .  .127 
A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 145 


The  Kid's  Honour 

He  had  neither  shirt,  shoes  nor  stockings.  Small  sharp  eyes, 
restless  and  bright  as  a  rat's  gleamed  out  of  the  careworn 
features  of  an  old  man  which  surmounted  the  spare,  stunted 
frame  of  a  child  of  ten.  It  was  the  child,  not  so  much  of  the 
slum,  which  is  the  foetid  lair  of  the  savage  of  civilization,  as  of 
the  street — the  desert  of  the  City  Arab.— Stead. 


THE  KID'S  HONOUR 


I  CAN  no  longer  address  my  lads  as 
"  kids."  That  fact  dawned  upon  me 
one  winter  night  a  few  years  ago.  My 
friend,  Judge  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  and  I  had  just 
come  into  Chicago  and  within  the  hour  were 
facing  a  turbulent,  good-natured  audience 
of  boys.  They  were  their  own  individual, 
polyglot  selves.  Some  one  thoughtfully  sug- 
gested that,  and  I  later  consented  to  let  the 
statement  stand  as  a  fact.  They  looked 
ordinary  enough,  except  that  the  twelve  lads 
who  were  pointed  out  to  us  on  the  front  row 
as  representing  half  a  dozen  nationalities, 
gave  us  a  hint  of  the  cosmopolitanism  of  the 
place. 

Now  up  to  this  time  there  was,  as  we 
thought,  a  port  of  entry  to  the  good  nature 
of  every  boy  in  the  Union.  And  on  this 
occasion  we  looked  over  the  roomful  of  hope- 
fuls and,  being  introduced,  we,  as  usual,  made 
17 


18  THE   KID'S   HONOUR 

a  chummy  salutation  to  "  de  kids."  The  kid 
spirit  vanished  with  the  salutation  and  the 
atmosphere  became  chilly.  Then  a  black- 
headed  Bohemian  boy  who  was  at  least  three 
years  prematurely  ensheathed  in  a  pair  of 
long  trousers  that  reached  from  his  armpits 
and  left  five  inches  of  excess  turned  up  at  the 
bottom,  spoke  for  the  assembly  : 

"  Gowan,  what  youse  givin'  us  ?  You  tink 
we  is  bleatin'  nannies  wid  whiskers?  We 
ain't  kids,  we's  guys!" 

Ordinarily  I  shall  sympathetically  abide 
by  the  objection  of  my  lads.  But  on  this 
occasion  I  am  determined  to  disregard  their 
feelings  and  speak  of  the  honour  found  among 
the  common  kids. 

In  most  communities  they  are  a  class  by 
themselves,  usually  distrusted  and  carelessly 
pushed  out  of  the  way  with  indifference  and 
a  suspicious  glance.  Some  of  us  find  our- 
selves reasonably  ruffled  in  our  spirits  in  the 
presence  of  this  contemptible,  unchristian  at- 
titude that  regards  every  little,  dirty,  neg- 
lected lad  of  the  street  as  an  untrustworthy 
brat.  And  in  such  a  moment  of  irritation  I 


THE   KID'S   HONOUR  19 

am  consoled  by  remembering  that  even  the 
cleanest  of  the  little  angels  who  help  to  dis- 
pose of  the  luxuries  of  our  homes  are  some- 
times in  an  atmosphere  where  faith  and  con- 
fidence are  at  the  minimum.  Perceval  was 
one  of  these  distrusted  chaps. 

"  Say,  mamma,"  he  said  to  his  mother  one 
day,  "  do  you  trust  me  ?  " 

"  Why,  Percy  dear,  of  course  I  do.  Why 
should  you  ask  me  such  a  question  ?"  replied 
the  fond  mother  who  had  failed  to  make 
either  the  pantry  or  her  words  conform  with 
her  heart. 

"  Well,"  continued  the  lad,  "  I  was  just 
wondering  if  you  trust  me,  why  you  keep  the 
jam  so  high  up  in  the  pantry." 

I  would  like  to  know  that  the  common 
suspicion  shown  towards  the  kids  of  the 
street  is  a  thoughtless  indifference  rather 
than  a  willful  distrust.  But  it  isn't  always 
the  case  by  any  means.  If  the  adult  would 
wait  for  a  willful  violation  of  the  law  to  create 
his  distrust  we  should  have  less  cause  to 
criticise  any  feelings  of  suspicion  and  indif- 
ference that  he  might  manifest.  But  even 


20  THE  KID'S  HONOUR 

this  disposition  towards  the  boy  is  so  grossly 
uncharitable  that  not  many  even  moderately 
sympathetic  folks  would  claim  it  as  an  excuse 
for  distrusting  the  honour  of  a  kid.  On  the 
whole  our  hearts  are  enlarging.  A  century 
ago  a  lad  legally  charged  with  swiping  a  two- 
pence would  have  had  no  cause  to  question 
what  the  penalty  would  be.  His  grandchil- 
dren would  learn  that  he  was  a  thief. 

The  Juvenile  Court  reform  movement  has 
properly  swung  many  of  its  advocates  far  over 
to  the  sympathetic  side.  And  some  of  us  who 
by  nature  haven't  much  severity  in  our  con- 
stitutions when  in  the  presence  of  a  child  en- 
tered into  the  new  order  with  enthusiasm. 

I  remember  the  first  case  that  was  as- 
signed to  me  in  the  children's  court  of 
Denver  some  years  ago.  He  was  said  to  be 
a  ten-year-old  boy  who,  for  reasons  of  his  own, 
had  made  it  a  rule  of  his  life  to  keep  away 
from  the  schoolroom  and  live  an  independent 
life  in  the  open,  a  safe  distance  from  every 
officer  of  the  law  who  might  interfere  with 
his  liberty.  The  school  attendance  officer 
had  on  numerous  occasions  caught  sight  of 


THE  KID'S   HONOUR  21 

the  youngster  afar,  but  after  long  soul-weary- 
ing chases,  he  concluded  that  the  "sight " 
was  the  only  thing  he  could  catch.  Then  the 
complaint  came  to  the  probation  department 
of  the  court  and  I  went  down  through  the 
alleys  and  across  the  tracks  to  the  ten-by- 
twelve  frame  shack  where  Elwood  was  sup- 
posed to  live  with  his  mother.  I  rapped  on 
the  door  in  a  sort  of  an  indifferent  way,  as 
though  there  was  nothing  particular  I  wanted. 
It  must  have  sounded  that  way  on  the  inside, 
for  the  boy  who  happened  to  be  in,  yelled, 
"What  d'you  want?" 

"  Oh,"  said  I,  "  I'm  not  so  very  particular. 
Suppose  we  start  in  with  a  piece  of  friendly 
conversation." 

"  Naw  you  don't,"  returned  the  lad,  "  I 
ain't  got  no  time.  I'm  busy.  Who  are 
you?" 

"Well,"  I  replied,  "I  might  be  Santa 
Claus,  only  I'm  not.  Say,  Elwood,"  I  con- 
tinued, "  if  a  kid  can  run  a  mile  in  twelve 
minutes  how  long  would  it  take  a  fly-cop  to 
catch  him  if  the  cop  could  run  five  miles  an 
hour?" 


22  THE  KID'S   HONOUR 

"  Aw,  go  pull  your  freight ! "  retorted  the 
boy  in  the  house.  "  Are  you  a  cop  ? " 

"Well  if  I  am,"  said  I,  still  standing  on  the 
outside  talking  through  the  keyhole  of  the 
locked  door,  "  I'm  the  slowest  moving  cop 
that  ever  tried  to  get  through  a  pine  door. 
But  if  you  will  give  me  a  show  on  the  home 
stretch  of  a  five-mile  trot,  I'll  show  you  I  can 
go  a  few.  Come  on  and  open  the  door  so  I 
can  be  sociable ;  'cause  if  you  don't  I'm 
liable  to  turn  you  down  some  day  when  you 
are  standing  at  the  inside  of  a  door  begging 
me  to  let  you  out." 

Either  this  speech  or  his  curiosity  brought 
him  to  the  door.  I  heard  him  turn  the  lock 
cautiously ;  then  the  door  opened  and  I 
faced  a  slender,  scowling,  dirt-covered  boy  of 
average  growth.  He  viewed  me  as  a 
stranger  and  consequently  an  enemy.  I 
stepped  inside  and  after  inspecting  a  bird- 
trap  he  had  been  making  I  asked  him  to  get 
his  hat.  Then  he  knew  he  had  been  caught. 

But  Elwood  was  not  the  kind  of  a  chap 
who  would  howl  when  confronted  with 
trouble.  He  yielded  willingly  and  went  with 


THE  KID'S  HONOUR  23 

me  the  fifty  feet  to  the  railroad  track.  I  am 
not  sure  what  I  did  as  we  stepped  on  to  the 
track.  But  whatever  it  was  Elwood  saw  in 
it  his  opportunity,  and  before  I  could  look 
around  to  see  where  he  had  gone  he  had  put 
twenty  feet  of  track  back  of  him  and  then  I 
began  to  warm  up  my  feet.  I  was  later  told 
by  a  fellow  who  watched  the  race  that  on 
the  final  heat  my  ankles  were  smoking. 
Without  giving  further  details  of  the  run  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  remark  that  I  caught 
him. 

I  think  that  was  the  first  thing  that  gave 
the  boy  any  confidence  in  me.  We  rode  in 
a  street  car  a  couple  of  miles  to  the  office, 
and  by  the  time  we  got  to  my  desk  we  were 
feeling  a  bit  chummy.  It  was  then  nearly 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening  and  we  were  in 
the  room  alone.  I  told  the  boy  I  wanted  to 
write  a  letter  and  handed  him  a  boys'  mag- 
azine to  look  at.  He  knew  I  was  going  to 
take  him  to  the  Detention  School  as  soon 
as  I  was  through,  and  furthermore  that  he 
would  have  to  remain  there  until  his  case 
was  heard  in  the  court.  When  the  letter 


24  THE  KID'S  HONOUR 

was  written  I  asked  him  if  he  would  run 
down  the  main  business  street  of  the  city 
and  mail  the  letter  for  me  at  a  corner  two 
squares  from  the  court-house,  and  that  if  he 
would  wait  at  the  corner  I  would  join  him  in 
a  few  minutes.  He  took  the  letter  and  left 
the  office.  In  five  minutes  I  locked  my  desk 
and  went  down  the  street,  and  the  dirty, 
police-chased  lad  who  had  done  enough  bad 
things  to  send  him  to  the  State  School  sev- 
eral times  was  waiting  for  me  at  the  corner. 
Now  I  was  sure  about  the  "honour  of  a  kid. 
A  little  while  later  I  had  another  case.  This 
time  a  bright,  decent-looking  boy  of  thirteen 
years  "  blew  in,"  as  he  said,  from  Cripple 
Creek,  where  his  stepfather  had  run  away 
and  left  him  alone.  His  mother  lived  in 
Idaho.  We  found  a  job  for  the  boy  which 
he  kept  for  a  number  of  weeks  and  then  he 
^wanted  to  go  home  to  his  mother.  He  paid 
for  a  second-hand  wheel  during  his  employ- 
ment and  when  I  supplied  eighteen  dollars 
for  his  railroad  ticket  he  kindly  suggested 
that  I  could  hold  the  bicycle  for  security  until 
he  could  send  me  the  money  from  his  home. 


THE  KID'S  HONOUR  25 

Then  I  patted  the  lad  on  the  head  and  said 
good-bye.  But  I  didn't  know  how  much  I 
was  saying  good-bye  to.  A  few  days  later  I 
dropped  into  the  bicycle  store  to  ask  about 
the  wheel  and  was  informed  that  the  boy  had 
twelve  dollars  borrowed  on  it.  I  instantly 
paid  the  debt  with  the  wheel  and  concluded 
to  wait  for  my  eighteen.  I  am  still  expect- 
ing to  wait  a  while. 

This  little  pocket-touching  experience 
really  has  no  place  in  these  remarks,  except 
for  the  reason  that  I  have  concluded  that 
contrasts  are  beneficial.  I  now  love  Elwood 
more.  But  maybe  Elwood  had  no  particular 
affinity  for  letters,  and  furthermore  it  had 
been  said,  and  truthfully,  that  they  fed  well 
at  the  Detention  School.  Then  in  justice  to 
the  Idaho  traveller,  it  may  be  suspected  that 
eighteen  was  his  unlucky  number — as  well 
as  mine.  But  pro  and  con,  whichever  way 
the  evidence  goes,  I  shall  think  well  of  both 
boys. 

True,  I  am  short,  eighteen,  but  I  have 
been  thinking  about  the  source  of  the  dis- 
honour. It  was  bad  no  matter  how  I  looked 


26  THE  KID'S  HONOUR 

at  it.  Bad  mother,  bad  home,  bad  mining- 
camp  in  Idaho,  and  a  bad  stepfather  thrown 
in.  And  I  invested  eighteen  dollars  in  the 
product  of  all  that. 

Some  one  will  say,  the  bad  product  of  all 
that.  But  I  shall  not.  I  still  have  faith  in 
the  honour  of  the  kid  from  Idaho.  I  do  not 
know  how  anxious  he  was  to  see  his  mother. 
And  I  don't  know  what  happened  after  he 
left.  And  finally  I  don't  know  what  may 
happen  to-morrow.  I  have  been  surprised 
several  times  with  the  final  outcome  of 
things.  Only  yesterday  a  boy  pushed  ww 
way  through  a  crowd  and  greeted  me  with 
affection,  while  I  recalled  the  fact  that  the  last 
time  I  had  seen  him  was  several  years  ago 
when  I  was  obliged  to  wash  out  his  foul 
mouth  with  soap  and  water  as  a  prophylactic 
measure  for  the  protection  of  morais.  Since 
that  time  I  had  never  expected  to  get  a 

pleasant  smile  from  him. 

• 

Speaking  of   the    bad  influences  back  jo 
the  dishonour  of  the  kid,  reminds  me  of  a  case1 
which  illustrates  the  way  the  Colorado  law  is 
applied  to  contributory  influences. 


THE  KID'S  HONOUR  27 

An  investigation  was  occasioned  by  com- 
plaints from  a  railway  company  against  some 
boys  who  habitually  loitered  about  the  tracks 
gathering  coal.  The  case  was  assigned  to 
two  officers  who  went  down  to  the  yards  and 
there  found  the  fellows  actively  engaged  in 
throwing  coal  from  the  cars  and  loading  it  on 
their  carts.  The  lads  were  taken  to  the  Deten- 
tion School  and  the  parents  notified  of  the 
calamity  that  had  befallen  the  thieves. 
Within  an  hour  after  the  boys  were  placed  in 
the  school  the  exasperated  parents  began  to 
assemble  at  the  office  and  seek  the  release  of 
their  "  wicked  kids."  Fortunately,  we 
learned  to  what  degree  the  kids  were 
"  wicked "  and  the  only  official  recognition 
we  gave  to  them  was  to  enter  them  as 
witnesses,  and  in  our  record  notation  we 
classed  them  as  the  unfortunate  offspring  of 
"  wicked  parents." 

The  boys  were  released  and  the  fathers 
brought  into  court,  charged  with  contribu- 
tory delinquency.  Then  the  trouble  began. 
Surely  this  was  a  new  order  of  things.  One 
of  the  fathers — an  Orthodox  Jew — had  been 


28  THE   KID'S   HONOUR 

unceasingly  solicitous  concerning  what  the 
judge  would  do  with  him. 

The  case  was  heard  and  Judge  Lindsey 
informed  the  defendants  that  he  had  found 
them  guilty  and  would,  therefore,  sentence 
them  to  five  days  in  jail  and  would  suspend 
the  sentence  upon  the  payment  of  one-half  of 
the  costs. 

The  Jewish  father  listened  eagerly  to  the 
court's  decision,  then  raised  his  head  from 
his  coat  into  which  his  chin  had  settled  dur- 
ing the  hearing  and  quickly  counted  the 
number  of  guilty  fathers.  His  countenance 
betokened  a  sense  of  satisfaction  and  with  his 
palms  elevated  ceilingward  he  addressed  the 
court. 

"  You  tink,  den,  it  would  be  about  von  dol- 
lar apiece  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  Mr.  Sackovinsky,"  replied  the 
judge.  "  It  will  amount  to  at  least  $6.00  for 
each  defendant  1 " 

Mr.  Sackovinsky's  heart  collapsed.  His 
hopeful  anticipation  was  gone  and  in  utter 
despair  he  turned  to  his  boy  and  exclaimed  : 
"  Mein  Gott !  Jakie,  Jakie,  see  vot  a  lot  of 


THE  KID'S  HONOUR  29 

damage  you  done  your  father  in  fifteen  little 
minutes  1 " 

I  was  later  reliably  informed  that  Mr. 
Sackovinsky  thereafter  ordered  his  coal  from 
the  local  dealer  and  Jakie  was  saved  from 
being  unjustly  branded  as  a  thief. 

This  is  more  than  I  expected  to  say  about 
the  dishonour  of  a  kid.  My  personal  opinion 
is  that  back  of  whatever  dishonour  there  may 
be  in  the  actions  of  a  boy,  there  is  a  contrib- 
utory influence.  But  that  leads  to  another 
subject. 

While  standing  on  a  sidewalk  one  evening 
in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of  boys,  I  recovered 
my  watch,  just  as  a  fourteen-year-old  boy 
had  lifted  it  out  [of  my  pocket.  During  the 
following  six  months  several  hundred  of  the 
boys  of  that  community,  which  borders  what 
has  been  spoken  of  in  the  press  as  the 
"  wickedest  police  district  in  the  world,"  had 
free  access  to  my  room  and  were  in  and  out 
at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  late  every  night. 
During  these  months  small  amounts  of 
money  were  constantly  lying  about  my  desk 
in  small  coins,  together  with  a  large  number 


30  THE  KID'S  HONOUR 

of  trifling  articles  of  interest  to  any  boy.  So 
far  as  I  know  not  a  cent  of  money  or  any 
article  was  taken  until  in  the  spring  when  an 
eight-year-old,  weak-minded  boy  and  his 
nine-year-old  brother  took  fifteen  or  twenty 
cents  and  a  few  small  trinkets.  I  am  not 
disposed  to  make  invidious  comparisons,  but 
I  cannot  refrain  from  adding  that  I  have 
been  in  some  other  communities  where  one 
would  expect  more  of  the  boys,  and  be  dis- 
appointed. 

I  believe  in  the  kid.  I  believe  in  the 
strength  of  the  moral  fibre  of  his  life.  This 
is  sure :  he  hasn't  very  much  to  help  him. 
When  I  hear  a  man  curse  the  kid  I  am  curi- 
ous to  know  how  much  the  man  has  ever 
done  to  help  the  kid,  or  even  get  acquainted 
with  him.  Unless  you  are  interested  in  the 
lads  it  is  not  likely  you  would  be  giving  time 
to  my  words.  You  are  sympathetic.  You 
give  the  kids  a  place  on  the  sidewalk.  But 
tell  me,  my  friend,  can  you  put  your  finger  on 
one  of  these  boys  you  smile  at  and  call  him 
by  name,  and  hear  your  name  spoken  in  re- 
turn? Have  you  ever  been  so  well  ac- 


THE   KID'S   HONOUR  31 

quainted  with  a  single  little  ragamuffin  that 
he  would  take  time  to  hunt  you  up  or  stop 
you  on  the  street  and  tell  you  something? 
Maybe  what  he  might  tell  you  would  amount 
to  nothing — to  you ;  but  to  him  it  might  be 
the  secret  of  a  heartache,  or  the  anticipation 
of  a  great  pleasure. 

Friend,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  not 
far  from  the  common  kid.  He  doesn't  know 
it,  and  if  he  did  it  wouldn't  influence  him 
very  much.  I  mention  the  fact  because 
the  Master  said  something  about  it.  You 
doubtless  recall  the  thought.  It  is  to  the 
childlike  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  be- 
longs. I  am  sure  Christ  had  His  arms  around 
more  children  than  are  mentioned  in  the 
Gospels.  If  some  one  should  paint  a  picture 
of  the  Master  sitting  in  the  midst  of  a  bunch 
of  dirty-faced  lads  who  were  off  with  their 
fishing  tackle  and  bait  along  the  shore  of 
Galilee,  I  would  declare  the  vision  was  an 
inspiration  from  God. 

Get  acquainted  with  the  fellow  to  whom  no 
one  has  ever  given  any  attention,  more  than 
to  carelessly  dub  him  a  common  kid.  If  he 


32  THE  KID'S  HONOUR 

is  suspicious  and  diffident,  don't  turn  him 
down  as  unsociable.  Remember  that  he 
has  not  met  many  of  your  stamp.  Spend 
all  the  time  and  energy  necessary  to  rub 
through  the  shell,  and  then  you'll  find — not 
the  common  kid — but  the  boy,  with  the  possi- 
bilities of  the  brightest,  largest  and  most 
useful  manhood.  And  incidentally,  any- 
thing you  do  for  the  boy  will  do  more  for 
yourself. 

As  I  have  watched  the  many  acts  of 
genuine  honour  and  fidelity,  and  caught 
glimpses  of  the  love,  faith,  generosity, 
honesty,  and  sincere  devotion  to  a  friend, 
that  spring  forth  from  the  common  boys  of 
the  street,  I  have  thanked  God  for  the  privi- 
lege of  touching  my  hat  in  recognition  of 
their  friendly  greeting.  And  as  I  have  re- 
ceived their  love  and  esteem  I  have  been 
more  honoured  -  than  if  I  had  received  the 
favour  of  a  king. 


The  Heart  of  a  Boy 

In  dealing  with  my  child,  my  Latin  and  my  Greek,  my  ac- 
complishments and  my  money  stead  me  nothing,  but  as  much 
soul  as  I  have  avails. — Emerson. 


THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY 

THERE  was  once  a  lecturer  whose 
face  was  not  in  keeping  with  her 
wearing  apparel.  She  had  made  a 
heroic  effort  to  conform  her  garments  to  the 
feelings  of  her  soul,  and  people  suspected 
that  it  would  have  been  easy  for  her  to  curse 
the  limitations  of  the  sex.  She  was  as  with- 
ered as  an  unshelled  hickory-nut  in  March. 
Her  cheeks  were  furrowed  by  a  soul  out  of 
sorts  because  of  the  mistake  that  had  been 
made  in  creating  her  a  woman.  In  the  spring 
time  of  her  life  love  had  been  buried  in  her 
heart  and  now  she  had  become  senile.  This 
woman  had  been  analyzing  the  "  child  con- 
sciousness," and  she  stated  that  after  extended 
observation  and  personal  contact  with  chil- 
dren, she  had  concluded  that  boys  do  not  like 
to  be  loved.  Furthermore  she  had  observed 
that  they  resented  any  exhibition  of  affection 
towards  them.  We  who  heard  the  lecture  did 
35 


36  ,   THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY 

not  blame  them.  They  were  quite  justified 
in  shying  off  into  their  own  love-realm  at  her 
approach. 

Perhaps  I  am  not  up  on  her  psychology 
of  the  subject,  but  I  believe  the  boy  of  it  is 
quite  a  different  story.  I  do  not  believe  in 
the  theory  of  the  woman  lecturer.  I  believe 
in  the  boy.  If  we  are  not  frightened  by  ex- 
plosive energy,  we  will  find  somewhere  in 
every  rollicking,  hilarious,  tamed  or  untamed 
boy,  a  big,  tender,  loving  heart.  The  heart 
of  a  boy — God  made  it  and  made  it  like  Him- 
self, and  when  we  locate  it,  we  shall  find,  I 
think,  that  it  is  the  largest  part  of  the  boy. 

Frankly,  I  like  boys.  Their  laughing  eyes 
and  generous  indifference  as  to  whether 
school  keeps  or  not  is  so  akin  to  the  be- 
witching loveliness  of  little  misses  who  send 
sparkling  glances  at  you  through  their  tresses, 
and  blush  like  a  sun-kissed  posy  and  giggle, 
that  on  my  word  I  cannot  but  love  them. 
God  made  them  for  that.  I  can  never  forget 
God  in  the  presence  of  a  child,  for  the  child 
is  the  latest  revelation  from  God.  A  boy  has 
only  a  certain  capacity,  which  is  to  say  that 


THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY  37 

his  calibre  is  limited,  and  God  could  gener- 
ously bless  him  with  only  one  of  His  attri- 
butes ;  therefore  He  chose  love  as  best  befit- 
ting the  little  heart  for  its  journey  through 
earth's  meadowland.  Since  then,  love  has 
been  indigenous  to  the  heart  of  a  boy.  And 
the  purveyor  of  love  who  does  not  measure 
his  affection,  but  lets  it  radiate  like  the 
warmth  of  an  autumn  sun,  will  be  soon  re- 
warded, for  love  will  find  its  way  to  the  boy's 
heart  and  the  lad  will  be  reached  across  lots, 
like  a  youngster  going  swimming. 

As  I  think  about  it,  I  believe  I  knew  that 
fact  some  years  ago  when  I  was  a  boy.  As 
is  frequently  the  case,  when  I  became  a  man 
I  forgot  it.  Then  I  came  back  to  the  fact. 

We  had,  for  some  time,  been  trying  to 
control  the  conduct  of  a  little  fellow  who 
lives  over  in  a  lower  section  of  the  city.  He 
was  an  Ishmaelite.  And  being  a  Westerner, 
with  disregard  for  law,  he  was  an  outlaw  kid. 
For  months  he  held  his  record  of  living  at 
liberty  in  the  clear,  a  hundred  yards  from 
every  officer  of  the  probation  department 
who  had  suffered  with  hot  feet  in  efforts  to 


38 

round  him  up.  Naturally,  this  acquaintance, 
formed  at  a  distance  and  generally  on  the 
run,  made  his  capture  an  event.  So  when 
he  was  brought  in  one  evening  I  almost  un- 
consciously turned  from  the  desk  to  arrange 
for  his  prompt  removal  to  the  Detention 
School.  Happily,  the  second  thought  came 
that  moment  and  I  sat  down.  The  boy  was 
at  a  window  with  his  cap  crushed  carelessly 
between  his  hands  and  a  pair  of  well-worn 
knee  trousers.  A  heavy  growth  of  brown 
hair  had  been  carelessly  brushed  away  from 
his  forehead  and  as  I  looked  at  him,  all  evi- 
dence of  the  outlaw  and  runaway  disap- 
peared and  I  was  confronted  by  a  sad,  neg- 
lected, twelve-year-old  boy.  Nobody  had 
found  his  heart.  That  was  the  thought  that 
held  me.  Just  why  I  was  blessed  with  so 
good  a  thought  at  that  moment,  I  do  not 
know.  I  believe,  however,  that  I  went  back 
a  dozen  years  and  remembered  that  a  heart 
was  common  to  the  constitution  of  a  boy. 

If  you  had  been  with  the  boy  that  moment, 
and  were  as  I  am,  I  am  sure  you  would  have 
gone  over  and  placed  your  arm  about  his 


THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY  39 

shoulder  and  told  him  to  sit  down  with  you 
in  the  big  chair  and  talk  it  over.  That  is 
what  I  did.  And  all  the  reply  the  boy  made 
was  to  choke  up  and  make  a  hard  effort  to 
keep  back  the  tears.  But  the  grit  of  the  out- 
law was  gone.  The  tears  welled  up  in  his 
eyes  and  he  laid  his  head  against  me  and 
began  to  sob.  I  learned  that  hour  that  the 
boy  did  not  need  the  Detention  School  or 
the  court.  He  needed  a  friend.  He  needed 
some  one  who  could  reach  his  heart. 

During  his  few  years  he  had  been  sheltered 
at  such  times  as  he  was  not  "  out,"  by  his 
parents  who  had  long  ago  forgotten  that 
there  was  anything  in  him  but  original  sin. 
I  met  the  father  and  listened  to  his  troubles. 
It  was  apparent  that  the  only  troublesome 
factor  in  their  home  was  the  twelve-year-old 
boy.  Later  I  was  told  that  the  father  was  in 
the  habit  of  doing  more  praying  for  the  boy 
than  the  lad  will  want  to  hear,  I  predict,  during 
the  first  ten  years  of  his  married  life.  Some 
one  reported  that  a  single,  jolly  smile  had, 
at  one  time,  crept  through  this  father's  heavy, 
black  whiskers.  By  a  sad  misfortune  the  boy 


40  THE   HEART  OF  A  BOY 

hove  in  sight  just  at  that  happy  moment,  and 
the  man's  falling  facial  barometer  gave  posi- 
tive assurance  that  the  boy  had  been  bad. 
Well,  after  the  father  was  through  with  him 
the  delinquent  twelve-year-old  confessed  that 
he  wanted  to  go  to  the  ball  game  mighty  bad, 
so  he  went.  The  boy  did  right.  If  the  man 
had  been  on  the  trail  to  his  boy's  heart,  he 
would  have  found  it  on  the  front  seat  among 
the  bleachers.  And  if  the  father  had  made  a 
record  that  day  at  rooting  with  the  outlaw, 
family  prayers  that  night  would  have  been 
more  interesting,  and  the  father  and  mother 
might  have  fallen  asleep  with  happy  hearts. 
Love  will  win  its  way  to  the  heart  of  a  boy, 
if  the  lover  does  more  chumming  than  pray- 
ing. 

I  have  lived  in  several  places  and  met 
some  bad  boys.  And  I  have  learned  that 
the  average  home  exerts  a  positive  influence 
for  morality.  This  does  not  necessarily  mean 
very  much.  Some  persons  who  are  trying 
to  help  juvenile  delinquents  have  found  a 
surprisingly  large  number  of  child  offenders 
coming  from  homes  of  apparently  high  ideals 


THE  HEART  O.F  A  BOY  41 

and  strict  moral  discipline.  There  can  be  but 
one  conclusion,  which  is,  that  a  boy  needs 
more  than  an  atmosphere  of  morality  and  re- 
spectable conduct.  I  am  sure  that  he  needs 
even  more  than  spiritual  discipline.  These 
he  should  have,  but  without  the  warm,  mu- 
tual love  and  comradeship  between  a  boy 
and  his  parents,  1  shall  expect  the  lad  to  be 
in  as  great  danger  of  rendering  obedience  to 
sin  as  another  child  who  is  reared  in  a  nega- 
tive moral  atmosphere.  Half  of  the  children 
in  our  cities  have  no  special  love  for  their 
parents.  Association,  food  and  clothing  are 
the  only  bonds  existing  between  more  boys 
and  fathers  than  I  like  to  contemplate. 
This  is  one  of  the  deplorable  facts  about  the 
American  home  and  it  is  somewhere  back  of 
nearly  every  boy  gone  wrong.  But  so  long 
as  a  father  takes  no  pains  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  his  boy,  he  must  be  willing  for 
the  child  to  appreciate  him  only  for  the  food 
and  clothing  which  he  provides. 

We  frequently  fail  with  boys  because  we 
present  them  to  conditions  which  do  not  har- 
monize with  the  masculinity  of  their  nature. 


42  THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY 

We  devote  much  time  trying  to  effeminize 
boy-nature.  In  so  doing  we  at  once  strike  a 
decisive  blow  at  the  object  of  our  effort. 
Many  enterprises  for  boys  suffer  an  irrepara- 
ble loss  through  the  lethargy  of  the  men. 
There  is  a  known  weakness  in  much  of  our 
effort  to  get  at  the  boys.  It  is  the  selfish  in- 
difference of  the  man  who  has  an  opportunity 
to  reach  down  his  hand  to  the  boy  at  his  side 
and  say,  "My  little  man,  let's  be  friends." 
What  will  the  boy  do  ?  If  you  ever  were  a 
boy,  you  know  what  the  lad  will  do.  The 
man  would  lift  the  lad  to  his  own  level.  Our 
first  concern  shall  be  about  the  man.  Things 
to  do  should  be  thought  of  later.  And  re- 
member that  the  man  is  more  important  than 
the  methods. 

It  is  not  a  mistake  to  dote  on  the  gregari- 
ous nature  of  the  boy,  if  you  have  a  "  quan- 
titative" interest  in  youngsters.  The  gang 
is,  unquestionably,  an  opportunity  of  which 
we  should  avail  ourselves.  If  won  for  right- 
eousness we  shall,  naturally,  have  a  potential 
of  vast  importance.  And  if  the  gang  be  well 
in  hand  it  will  be  easier  for  a  boy  to  maintain 


THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY  43 

his  standard  of  righteousness,  for  he  will  be 
encouraged  by  the  unity  of  sentiment.  But 
I  do  not  believe  that  boys  are  redeemed  in 
the  aggregate.  If  the  gang  is  won  for  good 
citizenship  and  Christian  character,  they  shall 
have  to  be  reached  one  by  one  through  the 
magnetic  personality  of  the  individual  who 
is  gifted  with  the  power  to  win  the  love  and 
confidence  of  the  individual  boy. 

Getting  at  the  boys  need  not  be  the  almost 
impossible  task  we  have  thought  it  to  be. 
The  boy  is  loving,  responsive  and  easily  won. 
If  you  would  win  him,  love  him.  See  to  it, 
however,  that  your  affection  does  not  become 
obnoxious  by  the  development  of  too  much 
sentiment  and  you  will,  in  due  time,  touch 
hearts  with  him,  and  mutual  love  will  establish 
a  kinship.  If  you  get  to  the  heart  of  a  boy 
there  will  be  nothing  much  left  to  trouble  you. 

There  are  always  enough  discouragements 
in  work  with  boys  to  suggest  a  resignation. 
You  may  consider  your  situation  unusual  if 
it  isn't  so.  There  is  danger  of  a  worker  try- 
ing to  handle  too  many  boys.  Then  the 
resignation  is  in  place.  Pick  out  a  few  fel- 


44  THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY 

lows  with  whom  your  soul  strikes  an  affinity. 
Don't  throw  up  the  job.  You  dare  not  do  it 
if  you  are  a  man.  The  boy  is  your  younger 
brother,  though  he  is  not  always  the  lad  who 
sits  with  you  at  the  home  table.  Sometimes 
he  is  and  you  tolerate  him.  But  more  often 
he  is  the  untamed  youngster  who  moves 
about  here  and  there  for  you  down  at  the 
shop  or  office.  Or  he  may  venture  to  sidle 
up  to  you  around  town  with  a  perceptible 
emulation  of  your  coveted  size,  which  turns 
to  you  a  larger  compliment  than  you  deserve. 
Wherever  you  meet  him,  my  fellow,  he  is  the 
same  admiring,  willing,  noisy,  untamed,  lova- 
ble youngster,  and  your  younger  brother. 

Most  of  us  do  not  know  him.  He  has 
jostled  against  us  occasionally  and  we  have 
concluded  that  he  is  the  mongrel  creation  of 
some  unknown,  foreign  force.  This  is  our 
notion  until  we  are  jarred  loose  from  our 
isolated  life  by  the  discovery  that  he  is  what 
we  were  or  might  have  been,  except  for  the 
good  fortune  of  a  home  or  the  fellowship  of  a 
friend.  You  and  I  are  a  part  of  some  boy's 
troubles.  Back  of  his  character  is  the  in- 


THE  HEART  OF  A   BOY  45 

fluence  that  has  emanated  from  your  life  and 
mine.  There  is  considerable  significance  in 
the  fact  that  only  the  exceptional  few,  out  of 
thousands  of  delinquent  boys,  are  character- 
ized by  a  morphological  difference  from  the 
average  type  of  youngsters.  The  juvenile 
courts  of  America  are  working  overtime,  try- 
ing to  solve  the  problems  produced  by  these 
boys  who  are  not  one  whit  worse  than  some 
of  us  were  a  few  years  back.  It  is  the  dis- 
covery of  this  fact  that  gives  inspiration  and 
faith  to  many  officials  in  the  children's  courts 
of  the  country. 

One  morning,  a  few  years  ago,  I  found  a 
mother  waiting  at  my  desk  with  her  fourteen- 
year-old  boy,  whom  she  declared  was  incor- 
rigible and  so  far  beyond  the  control  of  his 
parents  that  she  felt  his  future  welfare  de- 
manded that  the  State  should  take  him  in 
hand.  He  was  an  average,  vigorous  boy, 
with  abundant  independence  and  a  kind  heart. 
The  mother  sat  in  silence  for  a  few  minutes 
until  she  could  control  her  emotion.  Then 
she  told  her  story. 

It  was  back  in  August,  some  months  be- 


46  THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY 

fore,  when  George  began  to  show  a  careless 
indifference  to  her  advice.  September  came 
and  with  it  the  opening  of  school.  The  boy 
had  manifested  a  moody  antipathy  to  any 
mention  of  his  school  interests  and  when  the 
opening  day  arrived,  he  defiantly  refused  to 
give  any  further  obedience  to  his  mother  and 
started  from  home  to  have  his  way.  She  was 
left  at  the  door,  with  a  burden  such  as  only  a 
mother  can  know,  when  her  boy  has  willfully 
refused  her  counsel  and  placed  himself  at 
enmity  with  her  desire.  Then  followed 
weeks  of  vacillating  conduct  which  made 
heavy  inroads  upon  his  character  ;  and  now 
in  her  desperation  she  had  brought  him  to 
the  children's  court,  praying  that  something 
might  be  done  to  save  him  from  a  useless  life. 
As  she  told  me  of  her  sorrow,  the  story 
carried  my  thought  back  to  a  day,  eleven 
years  before,  when  I  saw  myself  an  unsteady, 
independent,  though  not  unkind  boy,  stand- 
ing at  the  front  gate  of  our  home,  resisting 
the  appeal  of  my  mother.  On  the  first  day 
of  the  term  I  had  refused  to  return  to  the 
very  school  George  had  forsaken  1  It  was 


THE  HEART  CF  A  BOY  47 

the  crucial  moment  and  I  had  my  way. 
Since  then  eleven  years  had  passed.  For- 
tunately I  came  to  myself,  fought  my  battle 
and  won.  And  now  there  sat  at  my  side 
in  the  probation  department  of  the  court  a 
boy  threatened  with  commitment  to  a  cor- 
rectional institution,  who  was  a  perfect  em- 
bodiment of  all  that  I  had  been. 

During  the  years  that  have  passed  since 
then,  I  have  not  ceased  to  remember  the 
fellowship  of  that  hour,  for  in  his  presence  I 
got  a  new  and  broader  idea  of  solidarity. 
Social  brotherhood  expanded  at  that  meeting 
and  I  learned  that  the  bad  boy  is  what  I  am 
except  for  a  friend  and  the  grace  of  God. 

There  is  latent  in  the  bad  boy  every  essen- 
tial for  the  making  of  ruined  manhood. 
Whether  he  shall  evolve  into  a  social  prob- 
lem or  not,  is  the  query  that  you  and  I  must 
answer.  Perhaps  you  did  not  agree  when  I 
said  you  and  I  are  a  part  of  some  boy's 
troubles.  I  mean  just  that.  And  there  is  no 
one  who  can  wield  the  same  control  over  the 
affections  and  activity  of  a  boy  as  can  a 
man.  There  is  your  opportunity  and  mine, 


48  THE  HEART  OF  A  BOY 

But,  my  brother,  if  you  are  going  to  win  out 
with  the  youngsters,  you  must  have  an  in- 
terest in  them.  If  you  would  discharge  your 
duty  to  society,  you  will  not  forget  that  the 
bad  boy  is  your  younger  brother.  He  needs 
the  love  and  generous  fellowship  of  a  man. 
If  you  doubt  the  efficiency  of  your  influence, 
try  it  with  that  lad  who  wants  to  be  your 
friend.  He  will  reciprocate  your  fellowship, 
and  my  only  concern  shall  be  whether  you 
are  honest,  strong  and  of  a  pure  heart. 

There  are  many  discouragements.  Some- 
times we  wonder  if  with  all  our  striving  for 
ways  and  means  of  reaching  a  boy,  we  are 
really  winning.  At  times  we  are  not  sure. 
The  periphery  of  a  boy  may  baffle  a  score 
of  adults.  Then  some  one  will  smile  at  all 
this  and  say  with  a  twinkle,  that  the  easiest 
way  to  the  heart  of  a  boy  is  through  his 
stomach.  The  heart  on  that  route  is  of 
another  sort.  We  are  talking  about  the 
heart  of  a  boy,  out  of  which  are  the  issues  of 
life.  It  is  bigger  and  harder  to  control  than 
any  gastric  capacity,  which,  I  admit,  is  say- 
ing much. 


Jimmy's  Heritage  of  Weakness 

Parents  control  the  bodies  and  minds,  the  hearts  and  souls 
of  their  children,  not  so  much  by  what  their  ancestors  were  as 
by  what  they  themselves  do  and  think. — Oppenheim. 


JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

THERE  is  a  lad  I  know  who  reminds 
me  of  the  question,  "  Who  did  sin, 
this  man  or  his   father  ? "     I  have 
heard    the    question    objected    to.      Unfor- 
tunately   the   objector  hasn't   modified  the 
evidence    which   suggested   the   query  and 
when  I  met  Jimmy  I  asked  it  again. 

A  voluminous  literature  of  the  last  decade 
has  quite  completely  relegated  hereditary 
influence  into  an  oblivion  of  insignificance, 
and  champions  of  child-saving  agencies  have 
discoursed  liberally  upon  the  all-importance 
of  environment  in  the  making  of  character. 
But  after  all,  the  child  who  passes  through 
adolescence  and  emerges  in  manhood  an 
embodiment  of  the  transforming  power  of 
environment,  is  unquestionably  rare,  as  com- 
pared with  the  vast  majority  who  retain  their 
original  natures  in  the  presence  of  our 
formidable  organization  of  social  agencies. 
5* 


52      JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

Every  person  who  has  won  the  friendship 
of  a  boy  stands  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
opportunity.  Perhaps  mere  association  may 
deflect  a  child's  career  and  be  responsible 
for  the  making  of  a  great  character.  There 
is  an  immeasurable  potency  in  human  as- 
sociation, but  even  with  a  full  appreciation 
of  the  value  of  social  pedagogy  in  work  for 
the  moral  development  of  boys,  I  am  per- 
suaded that  the  efficiency  of  such  work  is 
much  less  than  it  would  be  if  the  Divine 
element  were  recognized  and  a  systematic 
effort  were  made  to  develop  the  spiritual 
nature  of  the  boy.  Of  course,  I  am  now 
speaking  of  the  permanent  efficiency  of  our 
efforts.  The  conduct  of  a  troublesome  boy 
may  be  perfectly  controlled  by  association 
with  an  individual  who  has  established  his 
kinship,  but  unless  the  influence  has  gone 
beyond  the  restricting  effect  of  friendly  as- 
sociation, the  evidence  of  moral  reformation 
will  disappear  with  the  friend  whose  mere 
personality  has  held  the  boy  in  check.  In 
the  presence  of  our  many  failures  to  secure 
permanent  transformation  of  character  in  the 


JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS        53 

pubescent  boy,  we  often  remark  that  if  we 
were  able  to  control  the  conduct  of  the  child 
during  his  early  years,  there  would  be  little 
doubt  about  the  moral  status  of  the  man. 
But  I  am  not  so  sure  about  it.  And  now  I 
want  to  tell  you  a  story. 

Jimmy  had  just  turned  thirteen.  He  spent 
the  day  with  the  kids  and  early  in  the  even- 
ing called  at  the  home  of  his  friend  for  in- 
spection. Taken  from  the  rear  he  was 
always  an  uncertain  quantity.  He  wore  an 
old  slouch  hat,  heavy  and  well  soaked  with 
an  accumulation  of  several  years,  set  low 
over  his  head,  with  its  brim  pulled  well  down 
over  his  eyes  and  ears.  His  coat  might  have 
been  sufficient  for  the  remainder  of  the 
minimum  attire  stipulated  by  the  customs  of 
the  community.  And  indeed  if  you  had 
seen  him  from  this  posterior  standpoint,  on 
some  previous  occasion,  there  would  have 
been  no  visible  evidence  of  trousers,  for  below 
the  knee  extremity  of  the  coat  usually  ap- 
peared a  pair  of  dirty,  brown  legs  which 
were  the  only  indication  that  the  hat  and 
coat  were  the  raiment  of  a  real,  live  boy. 


54     JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

To-day  Jimmy  had  passed  out  of  the  "  knee- 
pants  "  class  and  he  ran  eagerly  across  the 
lawn  to  his  friend,  with  joy  sparkling  out  of 
two  of  the  biggest  and  most  luring  brown 
eyes  that  ever  lent  charm  to  an  otherwise 
attractive  little  face. 

"  Hello,  Doc ! "  began  the  youngster, 
"  guess  you  don't  think  I  ain't  something  to- 
day; ain't  I?" 

"  Well  I  should  say  you  are,  old  man. 
Bless  your  heart,  I  am  glad  to  see  you,"  re- 
sponded his  friend,  taking  a  handful  of  slack 
out  of  the  lad's  collar  as  he  pulled  him  to  his 
side.  "  My  what  a  dandy,  big  fellow  you  are 
to-day.  Where  have  you  been  ?  "  By  this 
time  Jimmy  had  placed  himself  over  the 
corner  of  a  veranda  seat  with  his  right  foot 
held  rigidly  over  his  left  knee. 

"  Aw,  I  been  down  celebratin'  de  extension 
of  me  pants  and  I  thought  I'd  come  over  and 
let  you  see  'em." 

A  glimpse  at  the  boy  was  always  sufficient 
to  awaken  the  memory,  and  with  this  warm 
greeting  and  the  hour  of  friendly  chat  that 
followed,  the  thoughts  of  his  friend  were  sent 


JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS      55 

back  over  the  past  to  review  the  story  of 
Jimmy's  heritage  which  had  long  before 
made  him  an  unanswerable  argument  in 
favour  of  "  original  sin." 

It  was  back  in  the  early  spring  time,  I  be- . 
lieve,  three  years  ago,  when  Jimmy  was 
placed  under  arrest,  accompanied  by  his  con- 
frere, a  jolly,  red-cheeked  little  chap  of  ten 
years.  The  two  boys  had  rented  a  livery 
rig,  ostensibly  for  an  hour's  ride  about  the 
neighbourhood.  The  hour  passed  with  no 
return  of  the  youngsters,  and  with  the  even- 
ing shadows  came  a  suspicion  that  the  livery- 
man's horse  and  buggy  was  the  loot  of 
designing  little  thieves.  An  officer  was 
placed  on  the  case  and  the  following  day 
Jimmy  and  his  pard  were  interrupted  while 
making  camp  along  the  roadside  in  a  moun- 
tain canon,  forty  miles  from  home. 

The  harshness  of  the  law  in  its  application 
to  Jimmy  and  his  fellow  had  been  tempered 
with  the  Christ  spirit  of  devotion  to  the  inter- 
ests of  the  child,  rather  than  to  the  mercenary 
consideration  of  the  horse  flesh  and  vehicle. 
And  so  in  harmony  with  this  parens  patrus 


56     JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

spirit  of  the  law,  Jimmy  met  his  friend.  The 
tears  flooded  out  of  the  big,  brown  eyes,  and 
the  kindly  judge  tenderly  forgave  him  for  his 
mistake  and  requested  the  new  friend  to  help 
him  out  of  his  trouble. 

During  the  hearing  of  the  case  a  heart- 
broken mother  sat  at  one  side  of  the  room, 
endeavouring  with  her  own  weeping  and 
burdened  spirit  to  console  the  sobbing  of  the 
sweet  little  five-  and  seven-year-old  sisters, 
one  clinging  about  her  neck  while  the  other 
cried  convulsively  with  a  curly  head  buried 
in  her  mother's  lap.  The  friend  turned  the 
boy  over  to  his  mother  and  made  an  appoint- 
ment to  visit  them  at  their  home  during  the 
week.  Thus  came  Jimmy  before  the  State, 
silently  pleading  his  case,  and  thus  was  he 
heard  as  an  unfortunate  child  needing  en- 
couragement and  assistance. 

We  are,  most  of  us,  abundantly  charitable 
in  indicting  the  past.  The  present  stands 
heroically  for  its  own  weakness.  But  from 
the  knotted,  tangled  products  which  drop 
here  and  there  from  the  loom  of  life,  emanates 
a  powerful  conviction  that  the  environment 


JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS      57 

which  we  have  doted  upon  as  a  supreme 
factor  in  the  making  of  character,  is  not  of  the 
high  potency  we  have  believed  it  to  be.  The 
virtues  of  our  fathers  abide  in  our  memories 
as  cherished  legacies,  while  their  sins  have 
silently  impregnated  our  lives.  We  stifle  the 
sudden  emotion  which  would  curse  the  past 
and  bow  with  reverence  before  the  silence  of 
those  who  have  given  us  the  heritage  of 
weakness ;  and  throughout  our  days  we 
strive  manfully  to  overcome  the  handicap  and 
make  our  victory  supreme.  Jimmy  had  not 
learned  to  strive  manfully. 

The  friend  made  his  way,  a  few  evenings 
later,  to  Jimmy's  home,  a  well-worn,  four- 
room  cottage,  that  set  far  back  from  a 
sparsely  populated  street.  From  the  inter- 
mittent condition  of  the  picket  fence  and 
board  walk  around  the  house  to  the  back 
door  that  hung  unsteadily  on  a  leather  hinge, 
it  was  apparent  that  the  place  had  served 
these  many  years  with  no  care  given  the  dis- 
integration of  a  once  attractive  little  home. 

The  mother  received  the  visitor  at  the  back 
door  and  tendered  him  a  chair  while  she 


58     JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

pulled  together  the  two  edges  of  a  torn  apron 
and  sat  down  on  a  soap  box  next  to  the  door 
leading  to  an  adjoining  room.  The  little 
sisters — God  bless  their  sweet,  innocent  lives  1 
— climbed  over  her  lap  and  finally  were 
quietly  adjusted  with  all  arms  about  the 
mother's  neck.  Jimmy  was  out. 

"  It  is  a  pleasure  to  have  you  come,  sir," 
began  the  mother.  "  I  trust  you  will  pardon 
the  necessity  of  receiving  you  in  the  kitchen. 
We  have  no  other  fire."  Her  tender  brown 
eyes  became  moist  and  a  tear  trickled  out 
and  splashed  on  the  cheek  of  her  baby  girl. 
For  an  instant,  her  thoughts  were  off  some- 
where in  other  days.  She  lowered  her  head 
and  gave  each  of  the  little  ones  a  kiss. 
"Pardon  the  necessity."  The  words  hung 
in  the  visitor's  thoughts  and  for  some  mo- 
ments he  forgot  to  speak  and  sat  absorbing 
from  the  silence  the  suspicion  of  a  sorrow 
that  had  lived  back  of  the  necessity  and  that 
now  lived  as  a  still  heavier  burden  on  the 
mother's  heart.  She  had  pitied  Jimmy  dur- 
ing the  years  and  mother-love  had  looked 
with  faith  beyond  the  many  dishonest  acts 


JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS        59 

and  the  unreliable  character  of  his  variegated 
little  life,  and  somehow,  through  it  all,  she 
expected  him  to  grow  away  from  his  weak- 
ness. 

But  Jimmy  continued  to  go  to  the  bad, 
and  faster  than  ever.  This  very  evening,  an 
hour  before  the  friend  called,  some  boys  of 
the  neighbourhood  had  told  her  that  Jimmy, 
during  the  afternoon,  had  started  to  bum  to 
a  city  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant. 
"And  this,"  sobbed  the  mother,  "in  the 
presence  of  the  fact  that  the  law  has  laid  a 
kind  hand  upon  him  for  a  serious  offense. 
Sir,"  she  continued,  tenderly  caressing  the 
little  ones  who  still  clung  about  her  neck,  "  I 
have  tried  hard  and  prayed  that  God  might 
cause  my  boy  to  outgrow  the  influence  of  the 
past.  And  with  all  my  burden,  never  an  un- 
kind word  has  the  boy  heard  from  me  against 
his  father." 

Her  words  stopped  for  a  moment.  She 
glanced  down  at  the  girls  who  were  now 
seeing  who  could  give  her  the  most  kisses. 
When  she  looked  up  her  eyes  had  lost  their 
tenderness.  "I  know  it's  the  story  of  a 


60        JIMMY'S   HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

family  sorrow,  and  such  as  it  is,  you  doubt- 
less hear  every  hour  when  you  seek  to  be  a 
friend  to  a  child  in  trouble.  But  you  must 
know  that  my  Jimmy  is  not  deserving  of  all 
the  censure  his  bad  conduct  has  placed  upon 
him.  From  the  time  he  was  four  years  of 
age  his  unsteady  life  has  been  ever  more  and 
more  vacillating  and  controlled  by  some 
hidden  power  that  has  made  him  dishonest 
in  the  very  hour  that  he  has  wept  himself 
sick  at  my  breast,  begging  me  to  forgive 
him  for  stealing  the  last  dollar  I  had  in  the 
house  with  which  to  buy  our  bread.  No,  sir, 
I  can't  be  too  hard  on  the  lad,  when  he  comes 
to  me  and  through  his  tears  tells  me  he 
doesn't  know  why  he  is  so  bad.  Somehow 
I  look  down  into  his  pleading  eyes,  and  then 
something  chokes  up  in  my  throat,  and  all  I 
can  do  is  lose  my  thoughts  for  a  time  and  I 
find  myself  tightly  embraced  by  his  loving 
arms.  And  thus  we  sit  for  an  hour  weeping 
together,  he  with  the  remorse,  and  I — God 
forgive  me ! — out  of  a  pitying  heart  that 
curses  the  man  whose  sinful  life  has  made  it 
hard  for  our  little  boy  to  be  good." 


JIMMY'S   HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS        6l 

The  friend  sat  in  silence.  He  heard  the 
story  and  with  a  kind  word  to  the  mother 
and  some  candy  for  the  little  ones,  he  went 
out  into  the  night  with  a  prayer  that  he,  too, 
might  be  forgiven  for  his  thoughts  about  the 
man  whose  unrighteous  life  had  caused  his 
boy  to  sin. 

Jimmy  returned  from  his  trip  in  a  few 
days.  He  brought  no  excuse :  only  the 
warmest  and  most  innocent  smile.  He  had 
enjoyed  himself.  No  one  asked  how  he  had 
lived.  His  mother  and  the  friend  had  no 
doubts  about  the  source  of  his  supply.  The 
weeks  passed  and  Jimmy  maintained  his 
record  of  faithful  attendance  at  school,  a  day 
and  a  half  in  a  week  and  a  half,  except  at 
such  times,  as,  in  all  justice,  he  found  it 
tasteful  to  take  an  extra  half  day  off  to  at- 
tend a  ball  game,  or  some  other  attraction  of 
equal  merit.  Frequently  he  prevailed  upon 
his  solicitous  friends  to  permit  him  to  go  to 
work.  He  no  sooner  had  the  consent,  than 
a  job  was  found  and  accepted.  When  he 
met  his  friend  the  next  month,  he  was  either 
working  in  another  part  of  town  or  had  just 


62        JIMMY'S   HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

returned  from  a  trip  across  the  state  on  "de 
bumpers,"  or  if  luck  had  moved  in  his  direc- 
tion, it  was  more  than  probable  that  he  had 
"  rode  de  cushions."  Thus  did  the  months 
pass,  and  to-day  Jimmy  is  thirteen. 

This  is  the  end  of  my  story.  And  I  sus- 
pect you  are  about  to  remark  that  it  doesn't 
end  right,  to  satisfy  your  curiosity  about 
what  came  afterwards.  That  is  true,  but  it 
ends  with  the  boy.  And  it  ends  precisely 
where  many  fellows  are  at  this  moment,  for 
my  friend  Jimmy  is  one  of  a  class  of  chaps 
who  are  inherently  weak  in  their  moral  fibre. 
Their  trouble  is  in  the  foundation  of  their 
character.  When  you  think  about  and  plan 
for  these  fellows,  don't  rely  upon  the  erro- 
neous idea  that  the  nature  of  the  child  is  of 
the  same  consistency  as  potter's  clay.  I 
have  too  often  seen  the  "  transformed  "  cul- 
prit revert  back  to  himself,  when  he  no 
longer  cherished  the  generosity  of  solicitous 
friends. 

Jimmy's  presence  is  a  challenge  to  the 
Church.  He  needs  the  Source  of  power. 
Society  calls  him  a  bad  boy,  which  he  is  not. 


JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS      63 

He  is  a  weak  boy.  Social  agencies  have 
done  their  best  and  their  influence  has  been 
transient.  Human  effort  is  only  a  palliative. 
That's  all.  Jimmy  is  not  being  cured.  And 
now  I  would  like  to  suggest  a  question  : 
Can  God  do  anything  for  the  lad  ?  Friend, 
think  about  that.  I  want  your  answer.  Only 
you  must  think  quick,  for  I  will  not  let  the 
question  stand  long  unanswered.  Can  God 
fix  up  the  lad  ?  Ah,  yes,  indeed  He  can.  The 
lad  will  be  safe  in  His  hands.  You  agree 
with  that.  The  boy's  relation  to  the  Cure  is 
worth  more  to  the  Church  than  we  have 
thought.  Jimmy  is  in  the  transition  and  will 
evolve  into  a  man,  and  of  still  greater  signifi- 
cance is  the  fact  that  he  will  evolve  into  an 
undesirable  citizen.  The  Church  will  then 
exert  herself  heroically  in  an  effort  to  redeem 
him  for  the  kingdom.  I  would  not  in  any 
degree  minimize  the  importance  of  saving 
the  man  at  the  worst  end  of  his  life ;  only 
that  gives  such  small  returns  compared  with 
the  limitless  balance  of  power  that  is  con- 
served when  we  catch  the  citizen  early. 
The  lad's  heritage  of  weakness  ought  to 


64     JIMMY'S  HERITAGE  OF  WEAKNESS 

urge  upon  us  the  supreme  importance  of 
God's  influence  in  the  development  of  his 
character.  There  is  a  cure  for  Jimmy's 
weakness.  The  boy  needs  Jesus  Christ 


A   Boy,  Two   Flights  of  Stairs,  and  a 
Friend 

You  can  do  more  through  love  than  you  can  through  hate. 
Bulldozing  and  angry  threats  may  sometimes  seem  to  win,  but 
love  is  the  only  true  balm  for  a  wounded  soul,  especially  of  a 
boy,  even  if  it  sometimes  seems  to  fail. — Lindsey. 


A   BOY,  TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS, 
AND  A   FRIEND 

JOHN  WARRASKLOWSKI  is  a  special 
friend  of  mine.  He  came  in  to  see  me 
this  afternoon,  as  he  does  every  day, 
and  brought  with  him  his  big,  happy  smile 
that  is  always  with  him,  and  which  makes 
me  feel  so  good  every  time  I  see  it  that  I 
wish  I  could  have  a  frame  put  around  it  and 
hang  it  on  the  wall  where  I  might  look  at  it 
when  I  get  the  dumps.  I  suppose  I  ought 
to  be  ashamed  of  myself  for  even  thinking 
of  being  dumpy  when  my  friend  John  is  such 
a  chunk  of  happiness.  And  I  am  ashamed 
of  myself.  I  have  been  treated  pretty  well. 
Nobody  would  say  that  about  John. 

I  found  out  about  some  of  the  rough 
sides  of  life  that  his  tender  years  have  had  to 
rub  against  and  now  when  I  look  up  from  my 
work  and  see  his  laughing  eyes  peeping 
around  the  corner  of  the  door  at  me,  I  am 
67 


68  TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS 

compelled  to  laugh,  though  something  in  the 
very  sight  of  him  makes  me  heavy  at  my 
heart.  But  I  never  let  him  know  that  and 
as  soon  as  he  sees  that  I  don't  object,  in  he 
comes  and  right  over  to  my  side  and  an- 
nounces that  he  has  come  up  to  see  me. 

He  never  remembers  that  I  am  busy.  To- 
day I  was  in  the  midst  of  some  thinking. 
What  was  the  thought  I  was  after? — bless 
me  1  it  has  gone  as  suddenly  as  the  boy 
came.  But  I  shall  not  pull  down  my  brow 
and  try  to  recall  it  now.  Some  other  time  I 
may  do  that.  To-day  John  is  here  and  I  am 
glad  to  see  him.  God  knows  I  ought  to  be 
genuinely  pleased,  and  so  ought  anybody,  to 
have  such  a  lad  climb  two  flights  of  stairs 
just  to  "  see  you." 

He  must  like  the  place.  Though,  honestly, 
there  isn't  much  to  the  place  but  space  and 
poor  equipment ;  all  of  which  is  made  good 
use  of,  however.  But  to  those  who  have  seen 
something  better  in  the  favoured  spots  where 
people  speak  good  American,  it  is  all  sug- 
gestive of  the  neglect  of  some  who  ought  to 
do  better  by  John  than  they  are  doing.  But, 


TWO   FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS  69 

as  it  is,  John  doesn't  mind  the  neglect.  More 
than  likely  he  wouldn't  know  what  neglect 
means  if  I  should  ask  him.  And  certainly  he 
would  not  see  neglect  up  here,  where  he 
peeps  in  shyly  and  is  happy.  A  little  atmos- 
phere that  is  warmed  up  with  love  seems  to 
just  meet  his  case  and  he,  for  the  time,  isn't 
aware  of  a  thing  in  his  soul  but  happiness. 

Not  many  of  us  are  like  John.  Climbing 
two  flights  of  stairs  brings  him  face  to  face 
with  a  contrast.  If  you  should  climb  up  with 
him,  you  too  would  feel  and  see  a  contrast, 
and  you  would  glance  about  and  smile  a  little 
meaningless  smile,  but  what  a  difference  be- 
tween the  two  of  you  !  Your  contrast  is  of 
another  kind.  John  has  lived  his  own  few 
years  and  you  have  lived  yours.  You  think 
you  have  done  very  well.  Maybe  you  have. 
But  you  have  never  looked  back  into  John's 
soul  and  seen  what  sort  of  a  soul  it  is  after 
living  a  few,  short  years.  So  you  may  as 
well  wish  us  good-day  and  go  stumbling 
back  down  the  dark,  worn  stairs  and  out  into 
the  noisy  crowd,  that  goes  jabbering  along 
the  street,  tickling  your  ears  with  what  is  to 


7O  TWO   FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS 

you  a  foreign  tongue,  but  what  is  in  reality, 
a  dozen  tongues. 

I  will  drop  my  work  and  John  and  I  will 
sit  here  for  a  while  with  nothing  particular  to 
do  but  visit.  Inwardly,  I  am  trying  to  get 
something  to  say  to  him.  I  have  told  him 
every  last  thing  I  know — and  much  more 
that  I  don't  know — about  Indians,  mountain- 
lions,  and  the  turn  in  the  old,  quiet  creek, 
where  we  lads  used  to  duck  each  other  and 
have  the  best  times  of  our  lives.  No,  I'll 
take  that  back.  That  was  altogether  too 
selfish  to  be  the  most  fun.  It's  very  much 
better  fun  to  be  up  here  and  feel  my  heart 
grow  warm  in  the  presence  of  John's  affection. 

John  hasn't  always  been  radiating  love,  for 
the  very  good  reason  that  he  hasn't  had  the 
good  fortune  of  being  with  those  who  would 
tolerate  it.  If  you  think  that  sounds  strange, 
you  are  mistaken.  It  is  as  commonplace  as 
dirt  in  some  second-rear  shack,  or  fourth- 
story  tenement.  If  God  hadn't  looked  after 
John's  soul,  the  lad  wouldn't  know  how  to 
smile,  for  he  has  been  brought  up  (whatever 
that  means)  in  one  of  such  places  that  I  had 


TWO   FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS  71 

trouble  in  finding  a  few  days  ago,  when  I 
jumped  mud-puddles  and  waded  through 
several  others  in  the  alley  on  my  way  to  re- 
turn a  friendly  call.  When  I  reached  the 
place,  I  wasn't  sure  where  I  was.  A  vigorous, 
young  woman  with  rigid  features  and  a  child 
at  her  breast  told  me  I  was  where  I  wanted 
to  go  ;  and  then  when  she  found  out  who  I  was 
she  made  haste  to  add  that  she  wished  I 
"  would  do  something  with  the  kid.  He's  on 
the  bum  and  we  can't  do  nothin'  wid  him. 
But  you  can,"  she  added  hopefully  ;  the  con- 
fession being  either  smooth  tactics  to  transfer 
responsibility,  or  an  honest  admission  of  their 
failure.  Then  she  continued  :  "  That  kid  says 
he  won't  do  anything  for  anybody  but  you." 
She  is  John's  sister  and  has  taken  her 
husband  and  three  children  in  to  share  the 
floor  space  with  the  old  folks,  or  she  was 
driven  in  by  the  absence  or  meanness  of  her 
husband.  I  haven't  taken  the  trouble  to  in- 
quire which  it  is,  but  she  is  there  and  hasn't 
much  faith  in  John ;  and  maybe  he  has  less 
faith  in  her.  Perhaps  there  is  poor  excuse 
for  the  friction,  and  maybe  there  is  much 


72  TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS 

cause  for  it.  John  may  be  a  little  terror  at 
home.  I  wouldn't  doubt  it  a  bit.  Honest, 
friend,  wouldn't  it  be  a  miracle  if  he  weren't  ? 
Ah,  it  would  1  That  is  the  way  I  feel  about 
it.  You  need  not  agree  with  me  if  you  pre- 
fer to  think  otherwise.  Since  you  don't  know 
John,  I  shall  not  expect  you  to  say,  unless 
you  have  met  a  similar  John  and  have  been 
comparing  experiences. 

In  justice  to  the  man,  I  must  tell  you  that 
John's  father  isn't  as  bad  as  he  used  to  be.  I 
have  it  on  good  authority  that  he  came  home 
drunk  one  night  a  few  years  ago,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  carry  out  his  usual  program  on 
such  occasions.  Only  this  time  the  furniture 
suffered  less  than  did  one  of  the  daughters. 
They  took  her  to  the  hospital,  and  before  she 
died,  she  sent  for  the  lady  whose  loving 
Christian  life  had  reached  her  over  in  the 
gymnasium  at  the  Institutional  Church.  Then 
she  died,  wishing  she  had  been  as  good  a 
Christian  as  her  gymnasium  teacher.  To 
this  day  I  have  heard  John  ask :  "  You  have 
heard  about  my  sister,  what  died,  haven't 
you  ?  "  Yes,  John,  I  have. 


TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS  73 

God  Almighty  pity  the  souls  who  do  not 
offend,  yet  are  sufferers.  I  want  some  time 
to  stand  on  the  brink  of  hell  and  see  enough 
destruction  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  assure  me 
that  it  has  come  unto  its  own.  God  knows 
I  have  seen  enough  of  the  product  of  the 
business  to  make  me  know  where  it  belongs. 
Hell  is  too  good  for  it — that  is  my  only  re- 
gret. 

John's  presence  here  to-day  is  not  of 
doubtful  significance.  That  is  the  way  you 
would  feel  about  it  if  he  were  your  John  or 
Clarence.  Your  boy,  sir !  I  shall  call  John 
mine,  and  talk  for  him.  My  heart  will  not 
consent  to  have  John  hang  around  one  of  the 
one  hundred  and  fifty  saloons  within  half  a 
mile  of  us.  Nor  will  I  be  willing  for  him  to 
loiter  about  the  streets  down  here  in  this 
place  at  nine  o'clock  at  night.  It  is  bad 
enough  at  three  in  the  afternoon.  There  are 
plenty  of  loiterers  both  around  the  saloons 
and  on  the  streets  at  night.  And  boy 
loiterers  at  that.  There  isn't  enough  in 
John's  home  to  entice  him  to  stay  there  a 
great  while  after  he  has  eaten  his  rye  bread 


74  TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS 

and  drunk  his  coffee.  The  fact  that  he 
comes  our  way  is  significant.  When  I  know 
that  John's  foot  rests  on  our  door-step  and 
I  hear  him  coming  up  two  flights  of  stairs, 
I  become  conscious  that  an  opportunity  is 
turned  in  our  direction ;  and  when  John 
comes  in  and  sits  on  the  arm  of  my  chair  and 
is  happy,  I  conclude  that  we  are  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  responsibility.  Furthermore,  when 
John  is  about,  it  is  our  honour. 

Be  generous,  brother,  and  give  me  your 
boy  for  ten  minutes.  Let  me  dispose  of  John 
and  put  your  dear  lad  in  his  place.  Re- 
member what  sort  of  a  home  he  has  now, 
after  taking  John's  place  and  suppose  he  has 
never  known  any  other  kind.  One  day  he 
hears  about  something  for  boys  over  at  the 
Institutional  Church.  He  has  passed  the  big, 
dirty  building  every  day,  as  far  back  as  he 
can  remember,  but  he  has  never  been  in. 
This  time  he  enters  the  club-room.  They 
are  having  stereopticon  pictures  and  a  fellow 
is  talking  to  the  crowd  of  two  hundred  boys. 
He  has  told  about  some  young  man  who  had 
grit  enough  to  do  what  was  right  even  when 


TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS  75 

he  knew  he  would  be  fed  to  the  lions  for 
doing  it.  Your  boy  listens  to  this  and  then 
hears  the  other  fellows  sing  something  about 
loving  to  tell  the  story,  while  beautiful  pic- 
tures of  the  kindest  face  he  ever  saw  look 
down  at  him  from  the  screen.  He  hears  an 
announcement  about  the  gymnasium  and 
baths,  and  true  to  the  resolution  he  makes, 
the  next  evening  he  is  in  the  gymnasium 
and  having  a  "bully"  time.  When  the 
class  is  through  with  the  gymnasium  he 
follows  the  fellows  down-stairs  to  the  baths 
and  looks  on  doubtfully  for  a  minute,  for 
they  don't  have  baths  over  his  way.  A  wash- 
tub  would  be  nearer  like  it.  Sometimes  it 
isn't  even  that.  But  the  boy  isn't  prejudiced 
and  he  takes  a  shower. 

If  this  experience  of  the  boy  were  an  ab- 
stract matter  with  me,  I  should  guess  that 
he  would  return  for  another  bath.  The  fact 
is  just  that  every  time,  and  he  comes  back 
often.  And  if  the  man  who  greets  the  boy 
in  the  meetings  and  down  in  the  rain-baths 
smiles  a  bit  and  is  kind,  he  had  better  keep 
his  ears  open,  for  one  of  these  days  he 


76  TWO  FLIGHTS  OF  STAIRS 

will  hear  a  boy  coming  up  two  flights  of 
stairs. 

Is  it  significant?  Yes,  yes  it  is.  There 
is  a  way  to  the  heart  of  a  boy,  and  some 
people  are  concluding  that  the  boy  is  worth 
all  of  the  equipment  needed  to  provide  an 
avenue  of  approach.  And  still  more  are 
concluding  that  they  are  in  big  business  when 
they  are  good-natured,  big,  brotherly  and 
chummy  with  a  boy. 

Now  I  cannot  say  how  soon  the  gym- 
nasium, baths  and  boys'  club  can  make  a 
Christian  gentleman  out  of  your  boy — the 
boy,  mind  you,  who  has  found  in  these  things 
the  fellowship  and  good  cheer  that  have 
never  before  come  into  his  life — but  I'll 
venture  that  you  are  not  a  whit  concerned 
about  that.  You  are  happy  all  over  that  the 
church  down  there  in  that  congested  district 
was  big  and  liberal  enough  to  attract  your 
boy.  And  if  your  boy's  future  lay  between 
the  saloon  or  the  street  and  the  social  life  of 
the  Institutional  Church,  you  would  say 
that  your  boy's  presence  at  the  top  of  two 
flights  of  stairs  was  significant. 


The  Transition  to  Manhood 

If  you  are  going  to  do  anything  permanent  for  the  average 
man  you  have  got  to  begin  before  he  is  a  man.  The  chance  of 
success  lies  in  working  with  the  boy  and  not  with  the  man. — 
Roosevelt. 


THE  TRANSITION  TO  MANHOOD 

AS  soon  as  an  American  boy  realizes 
that  he  is  not  so  large  as  the  other 
fellow,  he  begins  to  stand  in  front  of 
the  mark  on  the  wall  and  watch  himself  grow. 
Long  before  he  has  persuaded  his  mother 
that  the  pleated  kilt  should  be  worn  only  by 
"  sissy,"  he  rebels  at  the  thought  of  being  a 
baby,  and  with  his  first  pair  of  double- 
pocketed  "  knee-pants "  he  develops  into  a 
boy.  Here  he  remains  until  the  thought  of  a 
mustache  begins  to  grow  upon  his  upper  lip, 
when  he  becomes  more  than  a  boy,  but  not 
quite  a  man. 

These  changes  keep  a  boy's  ambition 
alive,  and  every  silent  hour  is  burdened  with 
the  thought  of  what  he  is  not  and  he  longs  to 
be  a  man.  What  inspiring  dreams !  If  in 
later  years  his  castles  do  not  cover  the  earth, 
the  failure  may  be  due  to  an  exhaustion  of 
his  resources  in  building  the  structures  in  the 
79 


80         THE  TRANSITION  TO  MANHOOD 

air.  But  even  so.  This  foretaste  of  great- 
ness does  not  hamper  a  boy's  life  with  a 
trailing-stone  to  retard  his  progress.  It  is 
ambition — his  priceless  inheritance — which 
will  cheer  him  on  to  the  reward  earned  only 
by  those  who  strive  for  greatness. 

The  fire  of  youth  should  not  smoulder. 
Let  it  blaze.  It  will  burn  out  the  excess  of 
flimsy  dreams  and  temper  the  life  for  the 
making  of  a  useful  and  solid  destiny.  The 
youngster  must  spend  part  of  his  time  mak- 
ing dreams,  but  see  to  it  that  he  isn't  a 
dreamer.  Thinking  about  being  a  man  will 
help  him  to  become  one,  provided  he  is  kept 
supplied  with  the  stuff  from  which  men  are 
made.  * 

Out  in  the  back  yard  you  see  the  little 
hopeful  who,  three  minutes  ago,  slammed  the 
door  and  jarred  every  nerve  in  your  body  be- 
cause you  drew  the  line  when  he  thought  his 
Indian  equipment  required  the  Navajo 
blanket  that  delights  your  eye  whenever  you 
look  at  that  wall-seat  over  in  the  corner. 
Now  he  has  started  to  whistle  and  is  rigging 
up  his  Indian  teepee,  which  cost  you  all  the 


THE  TRANSITION  TO   MANHOOD         8l 

gunny  sacks  on  the  place  and  a  right  good 
strip  of  carpet  you  had  planned,  that  very 
day,  to  use  on  the  back  stairs.  Or  maybe 
you  don't  see  the  boy  in  the  back  yard.  He 
may  have  fallen  into  the  dumps  when  you 
gave  him  a  piece  of  your  mind,  and  is  now 
on  his  way  to  Pat  Flinnigan's.  Nobody  ever 
had  such  unmolested  satisfaction  in  doing 
what  he  pleased  as  does  Pat  1 

You  sit  down  to  study  it  over  and  con- 
clude that  your  boy  is  beyond  any  puzzling 
creature  you  ever  heard  about.  You  are 
quite  right.  He  is  a  proposition.  But  he  is 
not  unlike  some  other  fellows  who  have  built 
wigwams,  or  run  away  with  the  dumps,  and 
then  grown  big  and  paid  taxes  for  a  back 
yard  to  accommodate  an  Indian  camp.  The 
whole  trouble  is  in  this :  we  are  afflicted  with 
hypermetropia,  or  far-sightedness.  And  we 
need  to  spend  a  quiet  hour  off  somewhere 
in  company  with  ourselves.  The  silence  may 
suggest  the  source  of  a  surprising  number  of 
unpleasant  characteristics. 

It  would  surely  be  very  embarrassing  to 
wait  for  a  child  to  remind  us,  as  did  a  little 


82         THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD 

fellow  the  other  day.  He  and  his  sister 
Helen  had  been  playing  together  in  the  back 
yard,  while  the  mother  was  in  the  parlour 
entertaining  a  number  of  her  lady  friends. 
In  the  course  of  the  hour  a  difficulty  arose 
in  the  back  yard.  Harry  was  declaring  that 
he  positively  knew  he  was  right,  and  anyway 
he  would  not  give  in  to  a  girl.  He  was  of 
that  unchivalrous  age,  preceding  the  delight- 
ful years  that  too  often  emerge  into  a  post- 
chivalrous  period,  after  the  preacher  is  paid 
and  the  lovers  discover  that  they  are  two 
souls  with  not  a  mutual  thought. 

Helen  began  to  cry  and  started  for  the 
back  door  to  seek  the  consoling  lap  of  the 
mother.  Harry  followed  a  close  second. 
The  chatting  in  the  parlour  gave  way  to  a 
consideration  of  the  children's  disagreement, 
and  the  mother  turned  to  Harry. 

"My  boy,"  she  began,  "why  do  you  and 
Helen  always  disagree  and  so  often  have 
spats  when  you  are  together  ?  " 

Could  you  imagine  a  harder  question  for 
an  obstreperous  youngster? 

Harry  had  observed  domestic  government, 


THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD         83 

and  he  was  thoughtful.  The  silence  became 
embarrassing,  but  he  found  the  answer. 

"  Well,  mamma,"  he  replied,  "  I  don't 
know,  unless  it's  'cause  I  take  after  you  and 
Helen  takes  after  papa." 

That  was  an  awful  shock  for  a  boy  to  give 
his  mother,  and  the  mortification  continued 
until  after  supper  when  she  and  her  well- 
meaning  husband  talked  it  over.  It  cured 
them  of  their  affliction.  Thereafter,  in  look- 
ing for  the  source  of  their  children's  char- 
acteristics, they  did  not  lose  time  with  the 
old  far-sighted  vision. 

Let  us  also  become  acquainted  with  our- 
selves, and  be  patient  with  the  boy.  He  is 
in  the  transition.  To-morrow  you  will  have 
a  man. 

There  is  nothing  unusual  in  this.  Ma- 
turity comes  sooner  than  we  expect  it.  The 
lad  goes  away  for  a  month's  vacation  and 
comes  home  a  man.  We  need  not  be  con- 
cerned at  meeting  the  boy  matured.  And 
when  we  meet  him,  likely  as  not,  he  will  im- 
press us  with  the  foolishness  of  proffering 
advice  to  a  man.  Naturally  we  are  con- 


84         THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD 

cerned  about  the  man,  but  frequently  our 
concern  does  but  little  good,  and  it  is  foolish 
if  the  growth  of  a  mustache  is  required  to 
stimulate  our  anxiety.  Certainly  we  ought 
to  be  supremely  interested  in  the  character 
of  the  man.  But  if  our  interest  shall  be  in- 
telligent, we  will  first  believe  in  the  autocracy 
of  childhood. 

Whatever  of  virtue  and  power  the  future 
man  shall  proffer  the  nation  is  latent  to-day 
in  the  youth.  Beginnings  are  generally 
autocratic.  What  is  put  into  the  start  of 
life  is  put  into  all  of  life.  A  perverted  use  of 
any  of  the  energies  of  adolescence  bespeaks 
a  weakened  maturity,  if  not  a  tarnished 
career  and  a  poor  heritage  to  the  future.  An 
individual's  childhood  forms  the  character  of 
his  maturity,  and  the  same  development  will 
be  the  primary  potential  in  making  the  char- 
acter of  his  posterity.  Thus  a  child  will  live 
again,  heredity  securing  physical  immortality 
for  the  individual  as  well  as  for  the  race.  I 
am  compelled  to  believe  in  the  autocracy  of 
childhood  and  whether  I  welcome  the  bur- 
den, or  seek  to  ignore  it,  I  am  conscious  that 


THE  TRANSITION  TO   MANHOOD         85 

this  fact  places  upon  me  a  responsibility  of 
supreme  importance.  For  the  child  is  not 
the  architect  of  his  own  fate.  He  is  the  sylla- 
bus of  the  past,  plus  what  I  give  to  his  life. 

After  childhood  comes  adolescence.  It  is 
the  threshold  of  life.  It  is  the  transition 
period  and  the  time  when  boys  become  men. 
Furthermore,  what  it  develops  or  reveals 
may  give  you  your  first  good  reason  to  con- 
gratulate yourself  for  the  good  work  you 
have  done.  Or  you  may  have  cause  to  feel 
otherwise.  Up  to  this  time  you  have  been 
final  authority  and  have  enjoyed  the  honour. 
But  not  now.  Something  has  happened,  and 
you  spend  your  time  speculating  on  an  un- 
certain quantity. 

When  the  boy  approaches  his  fourteenth 
or  fifteenth  year,  a  revolution  arises  in  his 
mind  and  body.  A  latent  element  of  his  na- 
ture bursts  into  activity,  fills  him  with  strange 
impulses  and  places  him  in  a  new  world. 
Girls  whom  he  has  heretofore  recognized  as 
mere  playmates  suddenly  become  to  him  the 
most  beautiful  creatures  on  earth.  An  inter- 
nal war  arises  and  all  the  contending  forces 


86         THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD 

of  his  nature  meet  in  closer  conflict  than  ever 
before.  His  entire  body  pulsates  with  new 
life.  School  work  goes  slow  and,  take  him 
altogether,  he  feels  like  anything  but  him- 
self. What  a  mighty  change !  He  passes 
the  borderland  into  the  mysterious  country  of 
youth,  and  is  a  man  ! 

It  is  doubtless  impossible  for  any  environ- 
ment to  make  a  boy's  soul  invulnerable  to  evil. 
There  are,  however,  no  factors  in  social  en- 
vironment and  education  which  can  so  surely 
safeguard  and  immunize  the  boy  from  the 
misuse  of  physical  functions,  as  will  adequate 
physical  education  imparted  by  a  tactful 
parent  or  friend  who  has  his  love  and  confi- 
dence. No  subject  of  education  sustains  a 
more  vital  relation  to  the^life  most  of  us  live, 
than  the  laws  governing  the  physical  organ- 
ism, yet  no  part  of  a  child's  or  youth's  educa- 
tion receives  so  little  attention  as  this.  The 
causes  are  varied.  A  portion  of  society 
stands  condemned  in  the  presence  of  the 
theme.  The  ultra-fastidious  tastes  and  false 
modesty  of  many  cause  them  to  blush  and 
flee  in  horror  at  the  suggestion  of  any  of  the 


THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD         87 

mysteries  of  physical  life  ;  many  more  parents, 
dominated  by  excessive  modesty  in  educating 
the  children,  answer  their  honest  questions 
with  silence  or  a  lie,  leaving  the  youngsters  to 
absorb  the  talk  of  more  enlightened  compan- 
ions by  whom  their  questions  are  answered. 
This  course  of  society  is  wrong.  It  is  natural 
that  boys  and  girls  should  be  interested  in 
themselves,  and  especially  in  the  chief  func- 
tions of  their  physical  life. 

There  is  no  greater  honour  than  to  be  the 
recipient  of  the  confidence  of  a  child.  If  you 
are  so  graciously  favoured,  it  will  be  well  for 
you  to  remember  that  adolescent  impulses,  if 
not  restrained  by  the  loving  sympathy  and 
careful  guidance  of  a  friend,  may  run  riot  with 
the  life  and  project  the  soul  into  an  eternity 
of  remorse. 

Do  not  taboo  physical  education,  for  a  boy 
can't  fight  until  he  sees  the  enemy.  That  is 
the  way  I  began  my  argument  the  other  day, 
in  the  presence  of  a  good  mother  who  would 
sacrifice  all,  rather  than  have  her  boy  know 
about  some  of  the  common  moral  dangers 
that  tempt  boys  and  girls  when  they  step  out- 


88    THE  TRANSITION  TO  MANHOOD 

side  of  the  home.  And  she  was  more  liter- 
ally sacrificing  all  than  she  knew,  for  the  boy 
whom  she  was  so  zealously  protecting,  had, 
that  very  hour  confessed  that  the  purity  of  his 
thought  and  life  was  already  sacrificed 
through  the  ignorance  imposed  by  the 
mother's  educational  plan. 

Her  mistake  was  the  common  product  of 
the  old  prudery,  and  the  same  spirit  that,  a 
generation  ago,  compelled  the  good  Doctor 
Todd  to  write  in  Latin  certain  paragraphs  in 
his  "  Student's  Manual,"  exhorting  the  youth 
to  preserve  the  virile  power  of  manhood. 

Our  boys  and  girls  are  not  factors  in  an 
inert  world.  They  may  for  a  time  withstand 
the  alluring  life  of  their  fellows,  but,  believe 
me,  in  America  with  either  the  seclusion  which 
opulence  may  afford,  or  the  poverty  which 
necessitates  early  labour,  your  boy  and  girl 
will  meet  the  world.  Be  sure  about  that. 
And  the  question  you  will  have  to  settle  is  not 
whether  your  child  shall  know  of  the  world's 
moral  dangers,  but  instead,  shall  he  be  pre- 
pared for  the  pressure  when  the  weight  of 
social  life  is  thrown  against  him?  It  is, 


THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD         89 

furthermore,  worth  remembering  that  in  the 
realm  of  morals  there  is  an  important  relation 
between  certain  unrestrained,  spontaneous 
thoughts  and  acts  of  childhood,  and  trans- 
gression in  later  years  which  society 
promptly  condemns  as  an  unpardonable 
violation  of  moral  law. 

Frequently  the  hardest  thing  to  learn,  but 
what  should,  nevertheless,  be  the  first  thing 
learned,  is  not  to  expect  too  much  of  a  boy. 
Children  are  very  much  like  their  ancestors. 
Animals  are  governed  by  impulses.  And 
since  we  classify  certain  manifestations  of 
normal  impulses  as  impure  conduct  and  vio- 
lation of  physical  law,  we  must  admit  that  in 
the  presence  of  the  prudish  educational  plan, 
harmful  thoughts  and  acts  may  be  encour- 
aged in  the  child's  life.  Children's  actions 
are  always  more  certain  when  they  are  in  the 
open.  When  an  eye  is  on  them  they  are 
subject  to  proper  guidance ;  but  varying 
quantities  of  trouble  may  be  caused  when 
the  spontaneous  impulses  are  manifested  back 
of  us.  The  fact  suggests  the  question  as  to 
the  relative  importance  of  ignoring  the  pres- 


90         THE  TRANSITION   TO   MANHOOD 

ence  of  sin,  or  keeping  the  devil  in  plain 
view. 

My  opinion  is  that  we  should  keep  an  eye 
on  him.  Recently  a  little  repentant  culprit 
friend  of  mine  agreed  with  me.  We  were 
discussing  the  matter  together,  and  our  talk 
was  touching  somewhat  on  the  non-resistance 
theory.  We  had  started  to  discuss  "  get 
thee  behind  me,  Satan!"  when  Fuzzy — my 
untamed  friend — shook  his  head. 

"Then,  old  man,"  I  replied,  "you  don't 
agree  with  that." 

"  No,  sir,"  answered  the  street  urchin,  "  I 
ain't  goin'  to  tell  the  devil  to  get  back  of  me 
any  more,  'cause  onct  I  did  that  and  he 
pushed  me  into  more  trouble.  Dat  don't 
work.  Eny  guy  what  t'inks  der  ain't  no 
chance  for  him  to  git  into  eny  more  trouble 
'cause  de  road's  clear  and  de  cop's  off  his 
beat,  is  off  in  his  head.  Just  then  he'll  go 
dreamin'  into  somethin'  what'll  be  de  worst 
trouble  he  ever  runned  up  against." 

I  am  compelled  to  believe  Fuzzy.  Whether 
it  be  for  good  or  evil,  I  am  sure  that  the 
fellows  I  know  who  keep  their  thoughts  clean 


THE  TRANSITION   TO  MANHOOD        91 

and  their  lives  straight  are,  without  exception, 
well  up  on  the  lay  of  the  devil's  territory. 
Ignorance  with  them  is  a  chief  ally  of  sin. 

Theorizing  about  morality  is  not  the  way 
to  protect  a  child's  soul.  His  virtue  and 
strength  will  be  preserved  only  by  a  fight, 
and  the  child  needs  to  be  well  able  to  identify 
the  enemy. 


A  Study  of  the  Individual  Boy 

There  are  no  two  children  alike.  The  laws  of  heredity  are 
so  complex  as  to  differentiate  every  life  from  every  other  life. 
Because  of  these  inherent  differences  the  management  and  edu- 
cation of  each  child  should  be  adapted  to  its  specific  require- 
ments. What  is  right  and  best  for  one  may  have  no  application 
to  another,  and  may  be  positively  harmful  to  a  third. — Riddell. 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

AVAST  amount  of  energy  is  expended 
to  no  good  purpose  in  efforts  for 
boys.  Social  workers  are  too  am- 
bitious. They  frequently  encourage  the  in- 
flation of  their  zeal  and  impose  a  handicap 
upon  their  work  from  the  start  by  seeking  to 
adopt  a  plan  which  will  be  broad  enough  to 
bring  under  their  influence  all  the  boys  of 
a  community.  From  a  purely  spectacular 
standpoint  such  a  policy  is,  doubtless,  a  suc- 
cess, provided,  of  cburse,  the  worker  is  an 
individual  of  unusual  personality.  But  usu- 
ally such  mass  efforts  are  futile,  or,  at  their 
best,  of  questionable  value. 

As  with  all  forms  of  work  for  the  develop- 
ment of  soul-stuff,  the  boy  is  peculiarly  an 
individual  quantity,  who  must  be  studied  and 
dealt  with  personally  and  not  en  masse. 
What  we  try  to  do  in  working  with  the 
crowd  is,  as  some  one  has  suggested,  not  un- 
95 


96 

like  placing  a  hundred  cups  together  on  the 
ground  and  expecting  to  fill  them  by  throw- 
ing a  bucketful  of  water  into  the  air  above 
them.  Some  of  the  water  may  fall  in  the 
cups,  but  the  greater  quantity  will  be  lost. 
While  if  the  cups  were  taken  separately,  the 
volume  of  water  would  be  sufficient  to  fill 
them  all. 

This  common  fault,  from  which  we  suffer, 
is  but  another  evidence  of  the  American  de- 
sire to  do  something  big.  It  is  a  serious 
error.  The  winning  worker  with  boys  is  not 
concerned  about  quantity.  Quality  must  be 
his  paramount  aim.  And  if  he  shall  win  one 
boy  and  be  the  source  of  uprightness  and 
strength  of  character  in  him,  he  will  have 
done  what  many  well-meaning,  earnest  work- 
ers have  failed  to  do  in  their  eagerness  to 
win  the  crowd. 

The  individual  boy  is  the  problem.  He 
must  be  your  incentive  and  the  object  of 
your  work.  If  you  can  strike  an  affinity 
with  him,  then  your  next  and  final  con- 
cern shall  be  to  know  him.  Perhaps  you 
will  fail  here,  for  a  knowledge  of  the  boy 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY        97 

embraces  an  understanding  of  his  inherent 
strength  and  weaknesses>  and  the  thousand 
factors  which  constitute  his  heritage  from  the 
past ;  it  will  necessitate  an  intelligent  ap- 
preciation of  his  faculties,  sentiments,  emo- 
tions, passions  and  their  intricate  correlation. 
By  the  time  you  have  a  fairly  good  view  of 
the  psychology  of  the  youngster,  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  one  normal  or  one  atyp- 
ical youngster  can  present  a  composite  con- 
stitution, sufficiently  complex  to  keep  you 
busy  for  a  while. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  enter  into  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  boy's  physical  and  mental 
constitution.  I  do  desire,  however,  to  sug- 
gest the  value  of  making  careful  observation 
of  the  individual  boy  and  the  social  and  other 
factors  which  influence  his  constitution  and 
conduct. 

An  early  deduction  in  the  study  of  an 
ordinary  case  should  be,  that  the  boy  is  not 
a  miniature  man.  He  is  only  an  embryonic 
man.  His  physical  organization  and  mental 
faculties  are,  in  many  essentials,  purely  rudi- 
mentary. The  mental  phenomena  which  he 


98        A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

presents  are  characteristically  evolutionary  in 
their  character.  His  body  undergoes  pro- 
gressive and  radical  changes.  Functional 
power  is  in  some  particulars  intensified ;  in 
other  organs  it  is  diminished.  His  nervous 
system  is  especially  unstable.  Boyhood  is  a 
period  of  rudimentary  development.  A  nor- 
mal young  chap  ought  not  to  present  too 
much  power,  except  it  be  the  exuberance  of 
animal  life.  Physically,  he  is  normally  viva- 
cious. If  he  is  not,  something  is  wrong.  It 
is  not  wise  to  dote  on  precocity ;  generally  it 
is  a  prophecy  of  early  senility. 

The  physical  growth  of  the  boy  oftentimes 
bears  a  very  direct  relation  to  his  conduct. 
Perhaps  some  of  us  are  more  familiar  with 
the  relation  as  we  have  observed  it  between 
an  adult  and  his  refractory  liver.  But  ordi- 
narily, boys  don't  know  they  have  livers. 
They  are,  nevertheless,  subject  to  the  vary- 
ing states  of  their  physical  functions,  and 
conduct  is  frequently  directly  traceable  to  the 
body-mood.  For  example,  a  lad  has  entered 
the  pubescent  period.  He  is  drowsy  and 
torpid.  His  mental  alacrity  has  been  influ- 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY        99 

enced  by  the  lethargy  of  his  body.  Nothing 
is  doing.  He  is  idling  around  the  streets 
before  school  hours  with  fellows,  and  is  sleepy 
and  indolent.  His  school  record  has  been 
good.  Now  a  culprit  associate  suggests  that 
they  play  hookey,  and  he  is  willing.  For  the 
time,  his  body-mood  is  sufficient  to  over- 
come the  home  control,  and  he  plays  hookey. 
While  in  this  stolid,  susceptible  mood  he  may 
commit  other  violations  of  his  regular  con- 
duct. Maybe  it  is  the  beginning  of  a  bad 
career. 

Boys  frequently  present  transient,  apathetic 
moods  which  may  easily  be  traced  to  errors 
in  their  diet,  hours  of  sleep,  or  wrong  habits. 
It  is  a  commonplace  observation,  made  by 
all  students  of  child-life,  that  there  is  a  dis- 
tinct relationship  existing  between  the  phys- 
ical condition  of  a  boy  and  his  conduct  and 
intellectual  capacity.  Nearly  every  com- 
munity presents  one  or  more  troublesome 
lads  who  are,  to  a  careful  and  competent  ob- 
server, clearly  defective.  In  the  community 
they  are  not  understood,  but  little  pitied,  and 
the  object  of  general  censure  for  much  that 


100     A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

they  do,  and  many  things  they  are  not  re- 
sponsible for.  The  trouble  with  many  of 
these  atypical  boys  is  some  functional  defect. 
In  the  more  marked  cases  there  may  be  some 
structural  defect  back  of  the  symptom-com- 
plex. Usually,  however,  in  the  cases  that 
suggest  some  physical  influence  back  of  the 
objectionable  conduct,  the  trouble  will  be 
found  to  be  only  functional.  A  nutritional 
defect,  with  consequent  anaemia,  fatigue,  or 
toxaemia,  may  be  observed.  Circulatory  dis- 
turbance and  remarkably  complex  nervous 
phenomena  may  result  from  the  rapid  ado- 
lescent growth  and  the  resultant  unstable 
nervous  system.  The  friendly  cooperation 
of  a  sympathetic  physician  can  be  of  much 
assistance  with  these  cases. 

Conduct  in  boy-life  is  largely  dependent 
upon  association  and  other  external  in- 
fluences. But  inheritance  exerts  a  greater 
force  in  a  vast  number  of  individuals  than  is 
commonly  recognized.  Whatever  the  source, 
we  know  that  character  is  an  integral  part 
of  the  boy,  and  conduct  is  generally  a  spon- 
taneous expression  of  a  mental  state.  In- 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY      IOI 

herent  factors  may  be  manifested  at  intervals 
and  suggest  an  evolutionary  unfoldment  of 
transmitted  characteristics.  Unusual  talent 
may  be  dormant  until  forced  into  expression 
by  some  external  influence.  The  nobler 
qualities  of  a  boy's  soul  may  be  hid  and  kept 
unknown,  both  to  himself  and  you,  by  an 
unfortunate  home  and  social  environment. 

No  more  important  duty  will  devolve  upon 
the  worker  in  the  study  of  the  individual 
boy,  than  a  careful  consideration  of  his  home 
and  allied  influences.  The  thoughtless  in- 
difference of  workers,  in  this  particular,  is 
frequently  apparent.  The  author  remembers 
vividly,  and  with  some  feeling,  a  little  inci- 
dent which  occurred  in  his  Sunday-school 
class,  one  day  when  a  lad  of  fourteen.  The 
wife  of  the  minister  was  substituting  for  the 
regular  teacher,  and  during  the  discussion 
of  the  lesson,  which  dealt  with  Ananias,  she 
asked  him  what  was  meant  by  the  statement 
"  he  fell  down  and  gave  up  the  ghost."  He 
had  never  before  heard  of  such  a  thing  as 
"  giving  up  the  ghost "  and  replied  that  he 
didn't  know.  She  regarded  his  ignorance  as 


102      A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

quite  inexcusable,  and  remarked  that  "  even 
her  little  eight-year-old  daughter  knew  what 
it  meant  1 "  Perhaps  he  too  would  have 
been  better  informed  if  he  had  been  reared 
in  a  parsonage.  But  he  wasn't.  He  knew 
some  other  things,  however,  which  the  good 
preacher's  wife  might  not  have  been  "  up  " 
on. 

What  we  know  depends  a  great  deal  upon 
the  atmosphere  of  the  home  we  are  reared 
in.  This  little  incident  was  quite  a  trifling 
and  altogether  unintentional  offense,  but  it 
made  such  an  impression  on  the  sensitive 
boy  heart,  that  the  scar  remains  to  this  day. 
Is  it  not  remarkable  how  intensely  suscep- 
tible the  child-mind  is  upon  certain  oc- 
casions ?  There  are  few  adults  who  cannot 
recall  some  impression  made  upon  their 
minds  in  childhood,  and  retained  throughout 
life.  How  carefully  the  worker  should  watch 
his  influence  when  with  the  child!  And 
what  a  demand  for  careful  discrimination ! 

The  extent  of  a  worker's  interest  in  a  boy 
should  depend,  to  a  considerable  degree, 
upon  the  home  the  youngster  comes  from. 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY      103 

Some  homes  are  not  altogether  adequate 
for  the  moral  and  physical  protection  of  their 
boys.  We  ought  to  remember  this.  Some- 
times we  don't.  Boys  from  homes  exercising 
their  full  function  do  not  need  the  attention 
of  solicitous  workers.  Many  boys  are  so  well 
born  and  reared  that  they  do  not  need  to  be 
born  again.  Religious  workers  do  well  in 
hunting  for  more  needy  cases.  There  are 
enough  inadequate  homes  to  furnish  abun- 
dance of  material,  and  efforts  should  be  cen- 
tered on  those. 

The  inadequate  home  presents  three 
classes  of  boys : 

First,  the  normal  boy  with  insufficient 
adult  companionship ; 

Second,  the  abnormal  "  bad  boy  "  ; 

Third,  the  unfortunate  "  bad  boy." 

Our  interest  is  usually  abundant  and 
spontaneous  in  the  presence  of  the  normal, 
bright  boy,  whose  home  may  be  incomplete 
because  of  the  absence  of  one  of  his  parents, 
or  what  is  worse  and  frequently  the  case,  is 
not  adequate  because,  for  one  reason  or 
another,  the  parents  do  not  offer  the  loving, 


104     A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

tender  companionship  which  the  boy  should 
enjoy.  Boys  so  situated,  who  are  picked 
out  by  a  worker  and  made  the  object  of 
generous  friendship  should  not  be  considered 
"  pet  cases."  They  are  needy  boys  and  just 
as  deserving  of  careful  interest  as  the  so- 
called  "  bad  boys." 

Some  troublesome,  offensive  fellows  may 
properly  be  classed  as  abnormal.  They  are 
morphologically  unnatural.  Their  "bad- 
ness "  may  be  traced  to  an  abnormal  phys- 
ical or  mental  state.  It  may  be  a  congen- 
ital or  an  acquired  condition.  Generally  the 
trouble  is  congenital.  Perhaps  it  is  what 
some  have  called  original  sin.  These  are 
the  cases  that  try  workers'  souls  and  some- 
times lead  to  the  conclusion  that  another 
generation  or  two,  under  favourable  environ- 
ment, will  be  required  to  correct  the  defects. 
They  demand  careful,  untiring  effort,  and 
should  always  be  considered  charitably. 
None  but  a  skillful  worker  will  be  of  service 
to  an  abnormal  "  bad  boy."  He  may  need 
the  services  of  a  physician  and,  occasion- 
ally, a  surgeon  would  be  able  to  restore 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY      105 

the  boy  to  a  normal  physical  and  mental 
equilibrium,  by  correcting  some  slight  phys- 
ical lesion. 

The  last,  and  very  numerous  class  of  boys 
is  made  up  of  the  unfortunate,  troublesome 
fellows.  We  are  a  part  of  these  boys' 
troubles.  They  have  been  true  to  the  in- 
fluences that  have  touched  their  lives.  They 
are  the  product  of  insufficient  home  influence 
and  immoral  association.  Society  has  turned 
out  a  bad  product.  They  do  not  deserve 
criticism.  We  deserve  it.  Our  first  duty  is 
to  find  the  source  of  their  trouble  and  then 
we  must  correct  it.  These  cases  cannot  be 
handled  in  the  aggregate.  That  has  been 
said  before.  It  should  be  said  twice  in  refer- 
ence to  these  boys. 

The  results  which  may  be  secured  with 
any  of  these  classes  of  boys  will  depend 
upon  the  loving,  companionable  attitude, 
and  the  character  of  the  congenial  worker, 
together  with  the  discrimination  he  makes  in 
the  detail  of  his  effort,  following  an  intelli- 
gent analysis  of  the  individual  case. 

It  will  frequently  be  of  assistance  in  the 


106      A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

study  of  an  individual  boy,  to  follow  some 
such  systematic  outline  as  the  following : 


1.  Name.     Nickname :    this  may  give  a 
clew  to  the  character  ;  boys  are  remarkably 
proficient  at  concentrating  character  into  a 
title. 

2.  Address.     Note   characteristics   of  the 
neighbourhood.     What    kind   of    a    house? 
Is    it    healthful  ?     Sanitation  ?      Is   there   a 
home  atmosphere  ? 

3.  Family   history.     Nationality.     If    for- 
eign, note  any  inharmony  apparent  between 
boy,   with   his    rapid    absorption  of  Amer- 
icanism, and  the  parents,  with  their  foreign 
manners  and  habits.     Is  there  a  congenial 
feeling    in    the    home?     Study    the   father. 
Does  he  use  intoxicating  liquor?    What  is 
his  occupation  ?      How  much  does  he  earn  ? 
What  is  the  father's  disposition  towards  boy? 
What  is   boy's   disposition   towards  father? 
Study  the  mother.    Is  she  temperate  ?     Note 
relation  between  boy  and  mother.     How  do 
parents  seek  to  discipline  boy?     By  force? 
Absence  of  discipline  ?     Any  brothers  or  sis- 
ters ?     Note  their  characteristics. 

4.  Personal   history.       (a)     Physical  con- 
dition.    Age.     Quality  of  organization  :  skin 
and   hair,   fine  and    soft,   suggesting   good 
quality,  or  hard,  dense  and  of  a  low  grade  ? 
Study  his  face  and  compare  your  early  im- 
pressions   with    later  observations.      Is    he 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY      107 

large  or  small  for  his  age  ?    Well  nourished  ? 
Sluggish  or  alert  ?     Habits  ? 

(&)  Mental  condition.  Is  he  affectionate? 
Secretive?  Honest?  Imaginative?  Boast- 
ful ?  Ambitious  ?  Stubborn  ?  Combative  ? 
Industrious  ?  Lazy  ?  Kind  to  animals  ? 
Benevolent  ?  Generous  ?  Timid  ?  Cau- 
tious ?  Self-confident  ?  Studious  ?  Inter- 
ested in  mechanical  work?  School  record? 
Grade?  Record  of  attendance?  Deport- 
ment ?  Best  work  ?  Poorest  work  ?  Record 
at  work  ?  Does  he  hold  his  positions  ?  If 
not,  why?  Opinion  of  employer?  Social 
record  ?  Who  are  his  companions  ?  Get  ac- 
quainted with  them.  Where  do  they  spend 
their  time  ?  What  do  they  do  ? 

Such  a  study  as  suggested  in  this  outline, 
if  made  with  an  absolute  avoidance  of  the 
spirit  of  an  investigator,  will  be  of  inestimable 
value  in  enabling  you  to  understand  a  boy. 
But  be  sure  that  you  are  not  an  investigator. 
You  are  a  friend.  Give  no  one  the  slightest 
cause  to  suspect  that  you  are  curious,  or  try- 
ing to  pry  into  private  affairs.  People  are 
suspicious,  yet  how  dearly  they  love  a  tried 
friend  and  with  what  appreciation !  You  are 
to  be  a  friend.  Learn  all  you  can  without 
asking  questions. 


108      A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

The  student  can  frequently  facilitate  his 
study  of  a  given  case  by  keeping  memoranda 
of  his  observations.  Such  a  record  would 
frequently  be  of  value  to  the  worker  if  care- 
fully used  with  each  member  of  a  class  or 
club. 

The  following  concrete  example  of  an 
ordinary  case,  selected  from  the  author's 
files,  may  be  suggestive : 


Name.  G.  W.  Nickname,  "  Skeeter." 
(He  was  suggestive  to  the  gang  of  a  mos- 
quito, because  he  was  slim,  always  flitting 
around  and  exceedingly  restless.  Your  de- 
duction :  nervous  temperament ;  choleric ; 
not  well  nourished.) 

Address.  2438  Gersplace.  Three-room 
house  for  family  of  six.  Near  city  dump. 
Bad  air.  Dirty.  No  home  attractions. 

Family  history.  Irish.  Father  occasionally 
intoxicated.  Labourer,  $1.50  a  day.  No 
companionship  between  boy  and  father. 
Mother  temperate.  Takes  in  washing.  Says 
she  "don't  know  what  ails  the  kid.  She 
can't  do  nothing  with  him."  During  a  call 
she  commanded  him  to  wash  his  face,  he  re- 
fused, ran  for  the  door  as  she  threw  a  stick  of 
wood  at  him. 

Personal  history.  Age  thirteen.  Nervous 
temperament.  Growing  rapidly.  Slen- 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY      JOQ 

der  and  very  nervous.  Anaemic.  Good  face. 
Always  meets  me  with  a  smile.  Bright,  but 
shiftless.  Stubborn.  Has  a  dog  and  six  rab- 
bits. Asked  me  if  I  knew  where  he  "  could 
trade  for  a  pair  of  white  rats  ? "  School 
record  :  Fifth  grade.  Played  hookey  regu- 
larly last  year.  Teacher  stated  only  time  she 
could  depend  upon  him  was  when  she  sent 
him  to  the  country  to  secure  material  for 
nature  study  work.  Social  record  :  Member 
"  Gersplacer's  Gang "  (named  after  street). 
Entire  gang  arrested  once  for  stoning  a 
peddler. 

Treatment.  Should  have  the  fellowship  and 
careful  attention  of  a  friend  who  can  strike 
an  affinity  with  him.  Would  recommend 
that  parents  permit  him  to  secure  work  in 
the  country,  where  he  could  have  care  of 
stock. 

Prognosis.     Good. 


There  is  an  element  of  danger  in  making 
a  formal  study  of  a  child  to  whom  we  sus- 
tain nothing  more  than  a  friendly  relation. 
We  should  at  all  times  remember  that  we  are 
trying  to  reach  the  heart,  and  all  that  we  do 
should  be  apparently  informal.  Service 
should  never  be  mechanical.  There  is  no 
danger  of  it  ever  being  such  with  the  win- 
ning worker.  But  the  worker  who  wins  the 


110     A  STUDY  OF  THE  INDIVIDUAL  BOY 

boy  and  secures  results  will  know  the  boy. 
Such  an  analysis  of  a  lad  and  his  past  and 
present  environment  ought,  naturally,  to  lead 
to  individual  service  for  the  individual  boy. 
This  is  the  essential  point,  and  the  physical, 
mental  and  social  study  of  the  boy  should  be 
encouraged  only  so  far  as  it  enables  the 
worker  to  know  the  material  he  is  working 
with,  and  the  ways  and  means  that  will  best 
enable  him  to  secure  the  coveted  results. 


Fresh  Air  Work  With  Boys 

The  greatest  help  after  all  is  to  take  the  children  back  to  the 
garden  that  the  Lord  God  planted.  A  boy  must  learn  to  sleep 
under  the  open  sky  and  to  trarnp  ten  miles  through  the  rain 
if  he  wants  to  be  strong.  He  must  learn  what  sort  of  men  it 
was  who  made  America,  and  he  must  not  get  into  this  fuss  and 
flurry  of  our  American  civilization  and  think  that  patent  leather 
shoes  and  white  kid  gloves  are  necessary  for  the  salvation  of 
his  life Hale. 


FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS 

THERE  is  no  incompatibility  between 
boys  and  fresh  air.  The  open  coun- 
try harmonizes  with  their  souls. 
Most  of  the  trouble  experienced  in  efforts  to 
control  the  wild,  noisy  youngsters,  is  caused 
by  forcing  the  lads  away  from  the  unre- 
strained life  in  the  open.  Boys  are  animals. 
As  sure  as  they  live,  that  is  true.  There  is 
the  nomadic  tramp  instinct  in  every  fellow. 
An  undomesticated  boy  can  shoulder  a 
blanket,  and  with  a  can  of  sardines  and  some 
rolls,  turn  his  back  on  civilization  with  as 
much  good  grace  and  enthusiasm  as  can  an 
Indian.  He  is  not  to  blame  for  this.  God 
has  tuned  his  soul  into  harmony  with  the 
swimming  hole,  the  mountains  and  the 
green  fields. 

A  few  years  ago  when  Huckleberry  Finn 
and  I  struck  out  across  lots  with  the  music 
"3 


114        FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS 

of  the  "  last  bell  "  jingling  at  our  rear  in  a 
frantic  attempt  to  coax  us  into  the  school- 
room, I  remember  the  harmony.  And  to 
the  best  of  my  recollection  there  was  never 
a  note  of  discord  until  we  reluctantly  fol- 
lowed the  teacher  into  the  principal's  office. 
If  I  had  known  that  God  was  on  my  side 
then,  it  would  have  been  a  satisfaction.  But 
I  didn't  know  it.  Yes,  I  am  quite  sure  that 
big  folks  are  sometimes  responsible  for  the 
discord,  and  now  that  I  have  grown  some,  I 
am  willing  to  share  the  responsibility.  We 
are  sorry  for  ourselves  and  wish  we  were  not 
so  artificial  and  refined.  Even  a  sedate,  pro- 
fessional gentleman  of  fourscore  years  con- 
fessed in  my  ear  the  other  day,  that  if  he 
were  sure  no  one  was  looking  and  his  joints 
would  permit,  he  would  be  tempted  to  hie 
himself  off  to  some  quiet  nook,  and  turn  a 
somersault !  What  God  puts  in  the  blood  is 
eliminated  slowly,  and  we  are  all  impreg- 
nated with  a  love  for  the  natural  life. 

The  other  morning  as  the  interurban  car 
sped  through  the  valley  on  its  way  to  the 
city,  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  freckled,  brown- 


FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS        11$ 

faced  lad  trudging  along  a  lake  bank  with  a 
fishing-pole  over  his  shoulder,  a  can  of  bait 
dangling  at  his  side,  and  his  legs  bared  six 
inches  above  his  knees.  Going  a  fishing? 
Sure  !  God  bless  his  little,  uncivilized  heart, 
and  give  good  luck  to  his  bait  1  And  God 
bless  every  little,  uncivilized  lad,  trudging 
along  across  lots  !  Maybe  school  is  not  out. 
No  matter.  If  spring  has  come,  and  the 
sand  lilies  are  tumbling  under  their  feet,  that 
is  enough.  If  some  lucky  chap  has  discov- 
ered that  the  fish  are  biting,  could  anybody 
blame  the  boy  for  temporarily  forgetting 
school — and  what  not? — in  the  presence  of 
such  inducements  ? 

One  day  when  the  wind  was  still  frosty 
from  the  snow-capped  mountains,  a  thirteen- 
year-old  boy  who  sells  me  papers  down  at 
the  corner,  ran  a  quarter  of  a  block  to  meet 
me  and  presented  a  blistered  arm  bared  to 
the  elbow. 

"Say,  doctor,"  he  began,  "do  you  tink 
you  can  fix  that  so  me  mother  won't  make 
me  quit  goin'  swimmin'  no  more  ?  " 

Fortunately,  I  could  and  I  did,  and  yester- 


116        FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS 

day  as  I  went  to  my  car  he  sidled  up  to  me 
on  the  curbing  and  with  a  mysterious  twinkle 
that  only  he  and  I  could  understand,  he  said : 
"  To-morrow  I'm  goin'  ter  blister  it  again  ! " 
Dear  hearted  lad,  thought  I,  go  on  with  your 
blistering  and  I'll  do  my  part  towards  keep- 
ing mother  willing. 

I  wouldn't  care  to  vouch  for  this  boy's  de- 
portment in  school  or  when  the  kitchen  coal- 
box  is  empty  at  home.  But  give  me  thirty 
days  with  him  in  the  open  and  I  will  guar- 
antee his  record. 

The  out-of-doors  offers  the  most  satisfac- 
tory environment  for  work  with  boys.  So 
often  our  faithful  and  energetic  efforts  are  di- 
rected only  to  the  unnatural  boy  as  we  meet 
him  in  our  formal  town  and  church  associa- 
tions. We  cannot  reach  the  boy  himself. 
The  Sunday-school  hour  gives  us  not  the 
boy,  but  anxiety.  We  ask  him  to  pass  the 
books  at  the  junior  meeting,  and  he  obliges 
us.  Perhaps  we  do  not  accomplish  more 
than  this.  It  is  not  the  worker's  fault.  The 
worker  is  not  in  touch  with  the  boy.  He  is 
struggling  against  the  unnatural,  artificial 


FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH   BOYS        1 17 

nature.  The  lads  are  encrusted  with  civi- 
lization. 

Sometimes  this  artificial  condition  may  be- 
come so  much  a  part  of  child-life,  that 
the  country  or  mountains  are  strange  and 
uninviting.  How  could  it  be  otherwise 
with  some  of  the  little  folk  who  have  been 
reared  in  the  miserably  dirty  and  congested 
sections  of  our  cities?  A  child,  suddenly 
transplanted  from  such  conditions,  to  rural 
life,  could  not  but  feel  out  of  place,  and 
would,  quite  naturally,  express  a  desire  to 
get  back  to  his  element. 

Recently  I  observed  this  disposition  in  an 
anaemic,  soulful-eyed,  Italian  boy,  whom  I 
have  known  for  some  years.  The  death  of 
his  father,  a  while  ago,  left  him  an  orphan, 
and  we  suggested  that  arrangements  could 
be  made  for  him  to  go  to  the  mountains  for 
the  summer.  But  Dominic  was  not  en- 
thusiastic. 

"  Onct  I  went  to  the  mountains,"  he  re- 
plied, "  and  I  geta  homesick,  and  I  think  I 
nota  go  up  there  no  more."  Poor  little  soul  I 
He  is  the  best  Jumbletown  can  produce. 


Il8        FRESH   AIR  \VORK  WITH   BOYS 

What  Dominic  needs  is  to  be  educated  to 
the  country.  His  nerves  have  become  so  ad- 
justed to  the  confusion  and  pressure  of  the 
Italian  quarter,  that  he  feels  abnormal,  when 
placed  in  a  normal  environment.  I  love  the 
lad  and  you  will  forgive  me  for  hating  the 
conditions  which  have  alienated  him  from 
Nature's  heart. 

Boys  for  the  most  part,  are  like  my  friend 
Eickey,  a  diminutive  little  chap,  who  heard 
we  were  going  to  take  a  crowd  to  the  moun- 
tains. He  pushed  his  way  into  the  crowded 
office,  and  the  first  evidence  I  had  of  his 
presence,  was  the  side-glance  I  caught  of  a 
bunch  of  healthy,  red  hair,  up  in  the  air 
above  the  several  dozen  little  people  crowded 
about  my  desk.  I  looked  up  and  Eickey 
smiled. 

"  Say,  are  you  givin'  out  tickets  for  the 
mountains  ?  Kin  I  get  one  ?  " 

In  an  instant  sixteen  kids  told  him  we 
were,  and  that  if  he  didn't  quit  shoving,  they 
would  "  knock  his  block  off  !  " 

Now  Eickey  was  blessed  with  the  good  in- 
stincts of  a  gentleman,  and  he  quietly  slid 


FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS        1 19 

down  into  the  chair  and  waited  his  turn. 
The  bunch  of  happy  youngsters  passed  from 
the  room,  one  by  one,  and  stood  around  the 
hall  in  chattering  groups,  awaiting  the  other 
members  of  their  crowds  who  were  still  inside 
waiting  for  tickets. 

Eickey  came  last.  He  stepped  up  to  the 
desk  and  presented  at  close  range  a  head  of 
good  size,  surmounted  with  that  tangled  hair 
of  glowing  colour  which  cast  a  radiance 
about  him  and  nearly  hid  a  little  pink  face 
that  always  smiled  into  prominence,  when  an 
eye  was  turned  in  his  direction.  His  shirt 
was  ingeniously  diminished  in  the  arm  lengths 
and,  aside  from  this  alteration,  the  bulky 
dimensions  were  patiently  tolerated  and  held 
in  conformity  to  the  little  body  by  his  over- 
alls, with  their  usual  slack  rolled  up  at  the 
bottom. 

Could  he  get  a  ticket  ?  God  bless  his  lit- 
tle heart,  of  course  he  could !  In  two  minutes 
he  had  it  securely  deposited  in  his  overall 
pocket,  and  ignoring  parting  ceremonies,  he 
bolted  out  of  the  office  and,  I  presume,  ran 
every  step  of  the  way  home  to  get  ready. 


120        FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS 

Did  you  ever  feel  a  little  of  that  bubbling- 
over-with-happiness  sensation,  that  at  once 
puts  a  boy  in  love  with  the  whole  world 
and  incidentally  generates  a  disposition  to 
keep  the  kitchen  wood-box  well  filled?  It 
must  have  been  the  way  Eickey  felt. 

We  asked  him  to  bring  a  note  from  his 
mother,  expressing  her  willingness  for  him  to 
go,  and  early  the  next  morning  he  handed 
me  a  well-soiled  piece  of  paper  and  re- 
marked :  "  Here's  the  note  from  my  mamma. 
She  can't  write,  but  she  told  me  to  and  I  read 
it  to  her  and  she  said  it  was  all  right."  The 
p^te  was  as  follows : 

"  Deer  doctor  i  can  go  to  the  mountains  if 
you  wil  tak  good  care  of  him.  i  wil  be  a 
good  boy.  Mrs.  Sampson." 

The  following  Monday  twenty-five  hilari- 
ous boys  swarmed  about  the  station  and 
Eickey  came  up  to  me  and  asked  if  I  didn't 
think  he  was  clean.  "  I  took  a  bath  Satur- 
day night  and  then  I  took  another  one  last 
night,  too.  And  I  rubbed  with  soap ! " 
There  was  no  doubt  about  it.  Three  dim- 


FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS        121 

pies  were  in  plain  evidence,  that  were  before 
filled  to  the  level 

The  train  started  and  Eickey  sat  next  to 
the  window.  We  neared  the  canon,  and  for 
an  hour  his  big  eyes  watched  every  break  in 
the  foothills  that  might  be  the  place  where  we 
would  "  run  into  the  mountains."  Suddenly 
we  rounded  a  bluff  and  our  small  engine 
drew  up  at  the  water-tank,  just  inside  the 
mouth  of  the  canon. 

"  Oh,  lookee  !  Whew  !  "  exclaimed  the  as- 
tonished youngster,  "  just  see  that  big  moun- 
tain, made  out  of  nothin'  but  rock  !  Did  the 
railroad  company  dig  out  this  canon  for  the 
train  to  run  in  ?  " 

It  was  a  great  day  for  the  lad,  and  when 
night  came,  we  tucked  him  up  snugly  in  his 
blankets.  Then  the  wind  began  to  sing  in  the 
pines,  as  it  blew  over  the  mountainside,  and 
the  boy  looked  up  and  asked  if  it  "  wasn't 
God  blowing  His  breath  down  at  us  ?  " 

Wasn't  that  worth  going  to  the  mountains 
for  ?  It  was.  And  all  of  this  time  I  kept  on 
saying,  God  bless  little  Eickey ! 

There  are  innumerable  desirable  and  work- 


122        FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS 

able  plans  for  out-of-door  activities  with 
boys.  To  make  a  plan  serviceable,  the  di- 
rector must  leave  his  formal  dignity  in  town, 
and  be  successful  at  making  a  red  bandanna 
set  to  his  neck.  Furthermore,  he  should  be 
able  to  put  a  chunk  of  bacon  on  the  end  of  a 
stick,  dig  it  out  of  the  ashes  a  couple  of  times 
while  trying  to  broil  it  over  the  camp-fire,  and 
then  eat  it  with  good  grace.  It  is  important 
for  the  leader  to  enjoy  the  freedom  and  in- 
formal spirit  of  unrestrained  life  in  the  open. 
It  will  not  often  be  advisable,  perhaps,  to  plan 
for  very  extensive  camping  trips.  But  they 
are  worth  taking,  if  the  local  conditions  justify. 
One  night  away  from  home  will  be  as  much 
as  most  ten-  or  twelve-year-old  boys  will 
stand.  The  twelve-  to  fifteen-year-old  boys 
will  be  the  candidates  for  longer  trips. 

Organize  a  "Travel  Club."  Limit  the 
membership  to  five  or  ten  boys  for  each 
adult  leader.  Begin  during  the  winter  to 
plan  for  a  camping  trip  next  summer,  and 
at  your  gatherings  from  time  to  time  discuss 
together  such  topics  as  "  Indian  Life,"  "  Camp 
Cooking,"  "  Camp  Supplies,"  etc.  This  pre- 


FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS        123 

liminary  experience  will  not  be  the  least 
valuable  to  the  boys,  for  anticipation  is  one 
of  the  most  vital  points  to  be  considered  in 
work  with  boys.  Keep  something  ahead  of 
them. 

When  you  are  ready  for  the  trip  secure  a 
team  of  horses  and  a  covered  wagon  to  carry 
your  tents,  blankets,  cooking  utensils,  and 
food  supplies.  Provide  a  couple  of  baseball 
outfits.  If  the  boys  decide  that  your  "  trip  " 
is  to  be  a  "  hike,"  select  your  objective  point 
and  plan  to  walk  not  more  than  five  or  ten 
miles  a  day.  Take  it  easy  along  the  road. 
Pitch  your  tents  and  strike  camp  near  a 
stream,  if  possible,  or  near  some  good  water 
supply.  Look  carefully  after  the  sanitary 
condition  of  the  camp  and  insist  upon  every 
boy  doing  his  assigned  work  promptly  and 
well.  Build  a  camp-fire  after  supper  and 
spend  an  hour  telling  Indian,  war  and  cow- 
boy stories.  Or  spend  an  entire  evening  in 
Bible-study  or  the  discussion  of  some  topic 
relating  to  character  and  the  spiritual  life. 
In  the  morning,  pull  up  your  stakes  and 
move  on. 


124        FRESH   AIR  WORK   WITH   BOYS 

If  the  above  "  hiking  plan "  fails  to  look 
good,  arrange  for  your  transportation  to  a 
suitable  place,  and  spend  your  time  in  one 
camp.  The  site  should  be  selected  with  con- 
siderable care,  as  to  the  water  supply,  fuel, 
sanitary  conditions,  etc.  Your  list  of  sup- 
plies should  include :  beans,  potatoes,  rice, 
prunes,  dried  fruits,  cereal  and  other  package 
goods,  bacon,  ham,  and  canned  goods.  If 
the  camp  is  within  reach  of  a  farm  you  may 
be  able  to  secure  milk  and  butter,  which 
would  be  of  great  value. 

A  "  One  Day  Hiking  Trip  "  is  very  prac- 
ticable. Start  early  in  the  morning.  Take  a 
kettle  and  a  mess  of  raw  navy  beans,  to- 
gether with  an  ample  supply  of  prepared 
lunch.  Select  a  camp-site  within  a  two-hour 
walk.  Swing  the  kettle  under  a  tripod, 
which  the  boys  can  make  with  limbs  from 
the  trees;  build  a  camp-fire  and  cook  the 
beans.  And  after  you  have  put  in  the  day 
playing  ball,  swimming,  fishing,  and  eating, 
if  the  youngsters  aren't  thankful  that  they 
"  live,  move  and  have  their  " — beans,  I'll  miss 
my  guess. 


FRESH   AIR  WORK  WITH  BOYS         125 

Take  to  the  woods  whenever  you  can. 
Hold  your  religious  meetings  on  the  lawn 
at  the  side  of  the  church  or  go  out  to  the 
park.  Organize  an  "Audubon  Club,"  and 
teach  the  boys  that  "a  bird  in  the  bush  is 
worth  two  in  the  hand."  Take  a  "bird 
walk"  in  the  spring  and  observe  how  the 
birds  build  their  nests,  how  they  mate  and 
care  for  their  young.  And  let  the  boys  get 
a  lesson  of  faith  and  optimism  from  the 
birds. 

Organize  a  "  Camera  Club,"  and  announce 
an  exhibition  of  original  pictures  of  birds, 
squirrels,  chipmunks  and  all  other  kinds  of 
wild  animals  living  in  our  forests,  mountains 
and  prairies.  Offer  prizes  for  the  pictures 
indicating  the  most  careful,  persistent  effort. 

Send  the  boys  a-fishing,  and  at  night  have 
a  "  Fish  Party."  Serve  the  fish  caught  dur- 
ing the  day  and  spend  an  hour  telling  fish 
stories.  There  are  plenty  of  good  fish  stories. 
Ask  different  boys  to  look  up  the  informa- 
tion beforehand  and  describe  the  methods  of 
catching  fish  in  China,  Alaska,  the  Great 
Lakes,  etc. 


126        FRESH  AIR  WORK  WITH   BOYS 

There  are  many  ideas  that  I  might  suggest 
to  you,  but  they  will  occur  to  any  versatile 
worker  after  fresh-air  methods  have  been 
given  a  place  in  the  junior  work.  The  im- 
portant thing  is  for  you  to  get  into  the  spirit 
of  enthusiasm  for  the  physical  and  God's  out- 
of-doors,  and  let  that  spirit  dominate  much 
of  your  work. 

Don't  be  afraid  that  all  of  the  time  you 
spend  with  the  boys  will  not  be  profitable, 
because  part  of  your  activity  is  "secular." 
There  should  be  no  secular.  The  Church 
has  been  too  small  in  its  interests,  and  the 
boys  have  been  obliged  to  go  elsewhere  for 
the  expression  of  their  "secular"  life,  and  the 
Church  has  lost.  There  should  be  nothing 
objectionable  about  a  boy  turning  a  flip  in 
the  Church  basement.  We  have  waited  for 
the  annual  Sunday-school  picnic  to  suggest 
a  potato  race,  the  broad  jump  and  the  fifty- 
yard  dash.  The  average  boy  doesn't  require 
the  stimulus  of  the  picnic  to  make  him  inter- 
ested in  these  things.  An  athletic  event  is 
always  in  order  and  ought  to  be  considered 
thoroughly  religious. 


Religious  Meetings  for  Boys 

The  new  work  for  boys  contains  the  germ  of  a  new  evangel- 
ism— new  because  its  methods  are  different  from  those  of  the 
typical  evangelistic  service,  but  old  because  its  aim  is  the 
original  one  of  winning  men  to  Christ. — Coe. 


RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS 

NO  form  of  effort  requires  greater 
resourcefulness  and  versatility  of 
mind,  acuity  of  perception  and 
buoyancy  of  spirit,  than  religious  meetings 
for  boys.  Boys  will  not  go  out  of  their  way 
to  hear  a  sermon.  They  will  frequently  do 
much  more  to  avoid  hearing  one.  A  boy 
normally  has  no  objection  to  religious  meet- 
ings, per  se.  His  antipathy  is  occasioned 
by  the  absence  of  all  features  which  he  would 
class  as  attractive.  This  is  the  estimate  of 
the  average  boy.  When  we  remember  that 
he  is  not  an  adult,  we  are  not  surprised. 
He  is  a  boy.  That  is  enough  to  make  us 
charitable. 

It  is  not  an  offense  to  question  the  use- 
fulness of  the  public  service  as  a  means  of 
grace  to  the  boy.  He  needs  religion,  and 
has  more  by  nature  than  is  sometimes  re- 
tained through  mature  years.  But  the  ques- 
tion of  his  spiritual  nurture  involves  so 

129 


130        RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR   BOYS 

intricately  the  peculiarly  sensitive  elements 
of  his  nature,  that  his  soul  development 
resulting  from  public  worship  will  be  small 
compared  with  the  results  which  may  be 
secured  by  personal  effort.  This  is  not  an 
excuse  for  the  boy  to  remain  away  from  the 
public  worship.  He  needs  the  Church.  In 
more  than  a  theoretical  sense,  the  ideal  place 
for  a  boy  is  at  the  public  worship,  by  the  side 
of  a  chummy  father.  But  we  are  consider- 
ing especially  the  boys  from  inadequate 
homes,  whose  chummy  fathers — if  they  have 
any — are  not  in  the  habit  of  spending  much 
time  in  church  with  their  boys.  All  boys  are 
pretty  much  alike  on  religious  matters,  how- 
ever, and  the  best  of  them  sit  ill  at  ease 
through  the  ordinary  preaching  service. 
This  fact  ought  to  suggest  that  if  we  would 
secure  the  most  satisfactory  results,  some  of 
the  public  worship  should  be  designed  for 
the  boys. 

Most  of  our  religious  organizations  are 
failures  with  boys  because  they  possess 
nothing  of  notable  interest  to  the  average 
adolescent.  And  of  more  importance  than 


RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS        131 

the  absence  of  any  magnetic  features  in  the 
organization,  is  the  presence  of  many  plans 
which  we  exhibit  in  his  presence,  that  are 
positively  repulsive  to  the  ordinary  boy.  If 
we  are  not  justified  in  thus  placing  a  low 
estimate  upon  the  success  of  our  junior 
organizations,  we  shall,  most  of  us,  be  com- 
pelled to  admit  that  we  fail  to  reach  a  repre- 
sentative number  of  boys.  If  by  accident, 
or  ice  cream,  husky  lads  are  persuaded  to 
meet  with  us,  their  huskiness  is  chiefly  mani- 
fested at  the  expense  of  the  devotional  senti- 
ments, and  by  the  time  the  effervescence  of 
their  enthusiasm  has  been  expended,  they 
are  off  in  search  of  new  adventures,  much  to 
the  delight  of  the  gentler  natures  who  are 
pleased  to  enjoy  the  soothing  devotions  of 
the  organization. 

Whether  we  fully  appreciate  the  fact  or 
not,  we  are  confronted  with  the  necessity  of 
making  our  plans  conform  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  boy  we  seek  to  win,  rather  than 
try  to  coerce  him  to  adapt  his  nature  to  our 
ideal,  which  has  been  conceived  and  doted 
upon  in  the  stuffy,  devitalized  atmosphere 


132        RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR  BOYS 

of  our  chambers  of  theory  and  imagina- 
tion. 

Devotional  meetings  are  of  comparatively 
small  value  in  getting  at  the  boys.  A  crowd 
of  youngsters  can  pray  more  easily  and 
effectually  on  the  run  than  on  their  knees. 
It  is  easier  for  a  boy  to  be  a  Christian  in  a 
gymnasium  than  when  back  of  a  hymn- 
book.  A  "hike"  across  fields  is  frequently 
a  speedway  to  God,  for  in  His  good  land  of 
clean  air,  fragrant  fields,  mountains  and 
water,  the  soul  of  a  normal,  vigorous  boy 
will  not  fail  to  vibrate  in  tune  with  the  heart 
of  God  whom  he  has  found  in  fellowship  and 
learned  to  love  as  his  Father.  Let  us  not 
hesitate  to  sacrifice  devotional  solitude,  so 
long  as  taking  the  boys  into  the  open  or 
bringing  them  in  touch  with  wholesome 
secular  stimuli  will  exert  a  formative  influ- 
ence which  shall  be  conducive  to  Christian 
character  and  good  citizenship. 

Boys  are  naturally  religious.  But  some- 
times a  Bible,  a  hymn-book  or  a  season  of 
prayer  are  the  poorest  means  on  earth  of 
awakening  their  spiritual  life.  In  saying 


RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR  BOYS        133 

this  I  do  not  in  any  degree  deviate  from  my 
fixed  conviction,  that  the  Bible  is  of  inestima- 
ble value  in  every  phase  of  religious  work 
with  boys.  Indeed  the  religious  worker 
with  boys  may  dispense  with  all  accessories 
except  the  Bible,  reinforced  with  a  con- 
secrated heart,  a  resourceful  mind  and 
vigorous  body.  With  this  equipment,  the 
successful  director  will  be  able  to  go  to 
work,  and  so  long  as  he  works  he  will  have 
the  boys.  But  mark  you,  my  friend,  the 
moment  there  is  nothing  doing  his  grip  on 
the  lads  will  weaken.  The  boys'  department 
must,  therefore,  be  Christianity  in  action. 
Get  plans  and  carry  them  out.  Stick  to  the 
job,  and  do  your  best.  Above  all,  keep 
something  doing. 

Make  your  church  the  centre  of  boy  life 
in  your  community.  If  you  cannot  give 
them  a  club  room,  lay  off  from  your  work 
some  afternoon  and  help  the  boys  dig  a  cave 
on  the  rear  end  of  the  church  lot.  Did  you 
ever  crawl  on  your  hands  and  knees  through 
a  passageway  leading  from  an  unsuspected 
fence  corner,  down  into  the  bowels  of  the 


134       RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS 

earth,  and  be  compelled  to  do  three  right- 
angled-twists  in  the  tunnel,  and  as  many 
four-foot  "  step-offs "  before  you  could 
emerge  into  the  appalling  solitude  of  the 
underground  cavern?  The  knee  exercise 
required  in  the  passage  is  beneficial  and  I 
have  an  idea  that  Old  Testament  stories 
never  read  so  well  as  when  you  and  the  boys 
are  in  a  cave  around  a  boiling  kettle  of  beans, 
or  presumably  lost  in  a  forest  and  gathered 
about  a  crackling  camp-fire. 

With  this,  some  of  you  will  think  I  would 
transplant  you  and  the  boys  back  into  a 
primitive  state  of  savagery.  I  do  not  care 
to  stand  for  that.  It  is  enough  for  me  to 
say  that  boys  do  not  thrive  well  on  too  much 
civilization.  A  judicious  use  of  unconven- 
tional methods  and  out-door  life  will,  I  assure 
you,  render  remarkable  service  in  turning 
boy  energy  to  a  harmonious  cooperation 
with  you  and  the  service  you  desire  to  do 
for  his  spiritual  development.  Let  us  bear 
these  things  in  mind,  good  Christian  worker, 
and  not  forget  that  we  are  leading  the  boy 
towards  Jesus  Christ. 


RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR   BOYS        135 

Do  not  be  afraid  of  modern  methods. 
They  are  designed  to  reach  the  very  boy 
you  are  after.  The  splendid  work  being 
done  by  the  many  well  qualified  workers  in 
the  Church,  speaks  with  profound  emphasis 
of  their  importance.  It  is  not  surprising 
that  this  educational  advance  has  invaded 
our  children's  room  and  sent  the  faithful 
worker  home  with  a  mind  hungry  for  new 
methods.  For  truly,  it  seems  that  the  atmos- 
phere of  this  children's  century  has  even 
vitalized  the  child's  mind  and  he  comes  to  us 
and  demands  the  best  we  have  ;  and  if  that 
isn't  good  enough,  we  are  left  alone.  Un- 
fortunately, this  spirit  doesn't  always  con- 
tribute to  the  soundest  religious  life  ;  but  if 
the  influence  is  detrimental,  the  cause  will  be 
found  in  the  administration  and  not  in  the 
methods.  Herein  lies  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  church  work  with  boys.  Not  all  workers 
are  able  to  combine  the  good,  wholesome, 
spiritual  element  with  the  newer  ways  of 
handling  the  boys'  work.  And  it  is  well  that 
it  is  so.  Some  can  only  conduct  a  class- 
meeting.  These  may  not  be  the  least  sue- 


136       RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS 

cessful  in  work  with  the  boys.  I  believe, 
however,  that  that  rare  individual  who  is 
doubly  blessed  with  the  spiritual  life  and  the 
ability  to  lead  the  restless,  energetic  young- 
sters through  the  play  hour  to  Christ,  will 
be  several  times  more  successful  with  the 
average  lad. 

In  addition  to  the  antipathy  which  boys 
commonly  manifest  towards  devotional  meet- 
ings, there  is  another,  and  equally  important 
reason  why  we  must  give  the  question 
careful  consideration.  I  refer  to  the  psy- 
chology of  the  boy.  And  without  entering 
into  a  study  of  the  subject,  I  shall  venture  the 
assertion  that  public  religious  devotions  which 
depend  more  or  less  upon  the  emotions,  are 
objectionable  among  boys  and  should  not  be 
encouraged. 

Recently  I  discussed  the  subject  with  a 
friend  of  mine,  Mr.  W.  W.  Crawford,  who  is 
superintendent,  or  rather,  godfather,  in  one 
of  the  most  ideal  homes  for  boys  in  America. 
A  strong  religious  atmosphere  has  always 
been  encouraged  and  enjoyed  by  the  boys. 
Some  years  ago  the  home  was  frequently 


RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR   BOYS        137 

the  centre  of  marked  revival  fervour  and  the 
boys  would,  of  their  own  initiative,  come 
together  for  prayer  services,  at  which  times 
they  would  weep  and  pray  with  great  concern 
for  their  souls  and  the  spiritual  condition  of 
their  associates.  These  emotional  phenomena 
have  since  been  discouraged,  and  my  friend, 
who  is  a  man  of  rare  Christian  character  and 
influence,  told  me  that  he  feels  there  is  more 
real  piety  among  his  boys  now,  when  their 
religious  devotions  are  kept  at  a  sensible 
minimum,  than  there  was  during  the  period 
of  revival  fervour.  There  is  very  good 
reason  for  discouraging  the  emotional  in  the 
child's  religious  life. 

There  are  communities  in  which  the 
presence  of  a  large  number  of  un-churched 
boys  has  suggested  the  need  of  some  form  of 
a  popular  religious  meeting  for  their  special 
benefit.  We  recently  had  the  pleasure  of 
observing  a  series  of  such  neighbourhood 
meetings  at  the  Halsted  Street  Institutional 
Church,  in  Chicago.  The  meetings  were 
vigorously  advertised  as  the  "Boys'  Happy 
Friday  Nights,"  and  as  the  "Boys'  Lucky 


138        RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS 

Nights,"  and  usually  two  hundred  or  more 
street  boys  gave  enthusiastic  attention  to  stere- 
opticon  talks,  cartoon  addresses,  boy  soloists, 
musical  features  and  the  Gospel  for  boys.  As 
a  suggestion  of  the  tactful  plans  demanded  and 
used  in  these  meetings,  a  beautifully  coloured 
slide  of  Hofmann's  "  Christ  Kneeling  in  the 
Garden  "  was  thrown  on  the  screen  while  the 
director  led  in  prayer.  All  confusion  ceased 
at  once,  and  thereafter  the  boys  were  abso- 
lutely silent  during  prayer. 

A  number  of  mass  boys'  clubs  conduct 
similar  popular  religious  meetings  for  their 
boys,  and  the  Boys'  Departments  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  are 
securing  large  results  throughout  the  country 
in  such  meetings.  The  Chicago  Boys'  Club 
has  a  regular  Thursday  night  Gospel  meet- 
ing which  has  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  helpful  features  of  their  club 
work,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  have 
the  most  difficult  part  of  Chicago's  boy  pop- 
ulation to  draw  from. 

The  attendance  secured  at  such  boys' 
meetings,  depends  in  a  large  measure  upon 


RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR   BOYS        139 

the  amount  of  good  advertising  that  is  done. 
Boys  are  the  finest  kind  of  advertisers,  and 
the  important  thing  at  the  start,  is  to  cause 
your  announcement  to  strike  a  popular  vein. 
For  example,  at  the  beginning  of  the  "  Boys' 
Happy  Friday  Nights  "  a  large  six-by-eight 
foot  poster  was  displayed  conspicuously,  with 
the  question  "  Have  you  met  the  Happy 
Kid  ? "  printed  in  good  sized  letters  at  the 
top ;  in  the  centre  of  the  sheet  was  painted  a 
rough  picture  of  a  hilarious,  laughing,  street 
urchin,  and  at  the  bottom  was  added  :  "  Meet 
him  next  Friday  evening  at  the  Boys'  Room." 
The  following  Friday  the  boys  were  there. 

It  would,  of  course,  be  exceedingly  poor 
judgment  to  rely  solely  upon  the  advertising 
for  the  popularity  of  the  meetings.  The  boys 
must  be  interested  after  they  assemble.  And 
this  is  the  biggest  part  of  the  job.  The 
leader  should  first  know  just  what  he  wants 
to  do.  The  songs  must  be  selected.  See  to 
it  that  you  don't  have  to  send  for  the  janitor 
to  have  the  piano  unlocked  after  the  boys 
have  assembled.  Don't  be  dignified.  En- 
courage the  boys  to  laugh  and  laugh  your- 


140        RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS   FOR   BOYS 

self,  whether  you  see  anything  to  laugh  at  or 
not.  Maybe  the  boys  do.  We  may  be  big- 
ger jokes  than  we  think.  Let  an  adult  do  the 
praying,  and  let  the  prayer  be  short.  Either 
have  the  boys  remain  seated  with  bowed 
heads  or  stand  together  during  the  prayer. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  command  boys  to  kneel 
in  a  large,  popular  meeting  for  children. 
Demand  good  order  and  don't  be  afraid 
to  be  in  charge  of  affairs.  It  is  better  to 
cause  a  boy  to  leave  the  room,  if  it  is 
necessary,  by  letting  him  see  by  your  eye 
that  you  mean  business,  than  to  grab  him  by 
the  arm  and  throw  him  out. 

In  talking  to  boys  one  should  know  what 
he  wants  to  say,  and  then  should  say  it,  and 
if  it  is  worth  saying  once  it  may  be  said  a 
second  time  to  good  advantage.  If  you 
know  what  you  want  to  say,  talk  plain  and  hit 
hard.  It  is  possible  to  talk  at  a  boy  for  an 
hour  and  not  once  hit  where  he  lives.  Be 
sure  to  find  stories  somewhere  and  use  them. 
And  after  you  have  said  what  you  wanted  to 
say,  and  have  said  it  hard  and  hit  the  boys 
where  they  live,  and  have  put  in  a  story  or 


RELIGIOUS   MEETINGS  FOR   BOYS        14! 

two  to  keep  their  ears  open,  then  stop,  for 
you  have  said  enough.  It  is  far  better  to  talk 
too  short  a  time,  than  too  long.  Make  the 
meeting  objective.  Use  a  stereopticon  or  a 
black-board,  or  any  other  device  that  will 
give  the  boys  something  to  look  at  and  hold 
their  attention  to  your  subject.  Seek  for 
something  unusual,  and  turn  commonplace 
things  and  events  into  startling  object-les- 
sons. Cultivate  action  and  enthusiasm  in 
your  talks.  If  walking  on  your  hands  and 
knees  across  the  platform  will  help  to  illustrate 
or  impress  a  point  in  your  talk,  then  walk 
on  your  hands  and  knees. 

In  such  popular,  advertised  meetings  you 
may  reach  large  numbers,  create  any  degree 
of  enthusiasm  you  desire  and  give  some  in- 
spiration. These  results  are  of  little  impor- 
tance compared  to  the  opportunity  the  meet- 
ings present  for  the  worker  to  follow  up  in- 
dividual boys  in  their  life  and  thought  during 
the  week. 

It  is  not  advisable,  in  my  opinion,  to  en- 
courage boys  to  make  public  religious  con- 
fession at  these  open  meetings.  If  the  leader 


142        RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS 

is  alert  and  in  intimate  touch  with  the  boys, 
it  will  be  reasonably  easy,  in  most  instances, 
to  supplement  the  public  meetings  with  a 
Boys'  Bible  Club  or  probationers'  class, 
which  should  include  in  its  membership  only 
those  boys  who  have  presented  evidence  of 
being  specially  interested  in  the  religious  life. 
The  worker's  relations  with  these  boys  can  be 
much  more  personal  and  helpful  than  with 
the  others.  With  the  limitedf  number  all 
kinds  of  out-of-door  trips  can  be  arranged. 
Occasionally  lunches  may  be  provided  and 
the  crowd  will  find  satisfaction  in  going  for  a 
hike  several  miles  to  a  river  or  into  the  woods 
or  mountains,  where,  I  can  assure  you,  your 
devotions  will  be  far  more  profitable  than  they 
would  be  if  you  were  in  a  stuffy,  uncomfort- 
able room. 

In  religious  meetings  as  well  as  in  social 
work  with  boys,  the  question  of  securing  the 
cooperation  of  boy  leaders  will  arise,  and  the 
observing  worker  will  appreciate  the  refer- 
ence Emerson  makes  in  his  essay  on 
"  Power,"  to  the  active  and  passive  sex  of  the 
mind.  One  class  of  boys  will  be  observed 


RELIGIOUS  MEETINGS  FOR  BOYS        143 

who  are  passive,  uninventing  and  ready  to 
accept  what  is  created,  invented  and  pro- 
moted by  the  active  element.  You  will  al- 
ways do  well  to  use  the  aggressive  boys.  It 
is  a  mistake,  however,  to  let  them  run  things. 
Elaborate  schemes  for  self-government  in 
work  among  boys  are  more  spectacular  than 
sensible.  Self-government  is  sometimes  too 
big  a  job  for  adults,  and  it  is  not  at  all  sur- 
prising that  young  lads  are  not  always  com- 
petent to  plan  for  themselves.  I  confess 
that  self-governing  experiments  among  boys' 
clubs  and  other  organizations,  provide  the 
imagination  with  much  space  for  inflation, 
but  the  plain,  common  facts  indicate  that  boys 
are,  as  Jane  Addams  says,  rather  better  when 
"  mixed  with  adults." 


A  Club  for  Boys 


When  the  Church  learns  that  a  love  for  prayer-meetings  is 
not  one  of  the  instincts  born  into  a  boy  at  puberty,  and  dis- 
covers that  it  owes  pastoral  service  to  shouting  boys  as  well  as 
to  ripening  saints,  and  that  stories  told  to  the  boys  on  Sunday 
lead  to  boyish  confidences  on  Monday — then  it  will  better  fulfill 
its  function,  and  the  churching  of  boys  to-day  will  be  the  man- 
ning of  the  Church  fifteen  years  hence. — Jump. 


A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

BOYS  do  not  need  a  club.  This  might 
be  said  to  good  advantage  in  a  dis- 
cussion of  corporal  punishment.  In 
this  connection  we  find  that  it  is  twice  ap- 
plicable. Boys  may  demand  a  club  organiza- 
tion and  secure  it  somehow  among  them- 
selves either  underground  or  elsewhere,  but 
the  clannish  association  is  not  essential  for  the 
development  of  manhood,  notwithstanding 
our  common  notion  about  the  gregarious 
nature  of  the  boy.  I  am  the  more  inclined  to 
preface  my  consideration  of  the  boys'  club 
with  these  remarks  as  I  recall  the  excess  en- 
thusiasm that  is  sometimes  manifested  by 
adults  who  get  the  idea  somehow — though 
never  from  experience — that  a  boys'  club  is, 
in  itself,  a  panacea  for  the  solution  of  every 
difficulty  presented  in  the  problem  of  the  boy. 
I  believe  heartily  in  the  boys'  club,  but  it  is 
one  of  the  very  good  things  whose  usefulness 
makes  necessary  a  frank  statement  of  its  limi- 
tations. 

'47 


148  A  CLUB   FOR  BOYS 

A  club  for  boys  is  a  substitute.  It  is  a  sub- 
stitute for  the  home,  and  compared  with  a 
good  home  it  is  a  very  poor  substitute. 
Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody  says,  "  A  good 
boy  is  the  natural  product  of  a  good  home, 
and  all  the  efforts  of  philanthropy  to  make 
boys  better  are  consciously  imperfect  substi- 
tutes for  the  natural  influences  of  a  healthy- 
minded  home.  The  great  and  overshadow- 
ing peril  of  a  boy's  life  is  not,  as  many  sup- 
pose, his  bad  companions,  or  his  bad  books, 
or  his  bad  habits ;  it  is  the  peril  of  homeless- 
ness.  I  do  not  mean  merely  homelessness 
having  no  bed  or  room  which  can  be  called 
his  own,  but  that  homelessness  which  may 
exist  even  in  luxurious  houses — the  isolation 
of  the  boy's  soul,  the  lack  of  any  one  to 
listen  to  him,  the  loss  of  roots  to  hold  him  to 
his  place  and  make  him  grow.  This  is  what 
drives  the  boy  into  the  arms  of  evil,  and 
makes  the  street  his  home  and  the  gang  his 
family,  or  else  drives  him  in  upon  himself, 
into  uncommunicated  imaginings  and  fever- 
ish desires.  It  is  the  modern  story  of  the 
man  whose  house  was  '  empty,'  and  precisely 


A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS  149 

because  it  was  '  empty/  there  entered  '  seven 
devils'  to  keep  him  company.  If  there  is 
one  thing  that  a  boy  cannot  bear,  it  is  him- 
self. He  is  by  nature  a  gregarious  animal, 
and  if  the  group  which  nature  gives  him  is 
denied,  then  he  gives  himself  to  any  group 
which  may  solicit  him.  A  boy,  like  all  things 
in  nature,  abhors  a  vacuum,  and  if  his  home 
is  a  vacuum  of  lovelessness  and  homeless- 
ness,  then  he  abhors  his  home." 

It  is  the  fact  of  the  homelessness  of  boys 
that  gives  the  "  open "  or  "  mass  club "  a 
place  in  society.  If  the  boys  have  homes  of 
the  right  sort,  it  is  not  likely  that  they  will 
loiter  about  the  streets  after  dark.  The 
street  can  never  produce  a  good  product. 
The  boys'  club  promoter  knows  this  and  he 
secures  a  room  or  building  and  equips  it 
with  games,  reading  matter  and  gymnasium 
apparatus.  Then  he  turns  on  the  light  and 
lets  the  boys  in  off  the  streets.  This  is  a 
boys'  mass  club  in  a  primitive  stage.  The 
idea  sometimes  evolves  into  an  institution  of 
large  dimensions,  with  game  rooms,  library, 
gymnasium,  baths,  plunge,  assembly  room, 


150  A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

manual  and  industrial  departments.  The 
boys  make  use  of  these  privileges  in  large 
numbers,  and  thus  through  its  various 
agencies  the  club  substitutes  for  the  home. 

Then  again,  the  club  is  frequently  not  a 
work  of  substituting,  but  of  supplementing 
the  inadequate  home.  In  both  capacities  it 
has  a  legitimate  and  useful  sphere  for  work. 
Thus  a  mass  club  may  be  anything  from  a 
shelter  to  a  trade-school ;  and  in  any  form 
of  activity  it  should  be  of  service  in  provid- 
ing a  wholesome  environment  for  boys  and 
in  being  an  agency  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
spirit,  mind  and  body.  When  comparisons 
are  made,  I  agree  with  Jacob  Riis  that 
"  Boys'  clubs  are  better  than  policemen's 
clubs,"  but  when  compared  with  a  good 
home  the  boys'  club  at  its  best  is  a  poor 
substitute. 

The  man  or  woman  in  charge  should  be 
the  biggest  part  of  a  club.  An  objection 
commonly  raised  against  mass  efforts  with 
boys  is  the  fact  that  the  worker  can  do  but 
little  for  the  boys  individually,  compared 
with  the  personal  service  that  can  be  ren- 


A  CLUB   FOR   BOYS  151 

dered  in  the  group  plan  which  I  shall  speak 
of  later.  It  is  very  true  that  the  adult's 
individual  association  with  the  boys  is 
limited  and  his  knowledge  of  them  may 
be  unsatisfactory,  but  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  he  is  the  known  and  con- 
stantly observed  centre  of  an  ever  enlarging 
boy  constituency,  and  the  influence  he  exerts 
among  them  cannot,  presumably,  be  known, 
but  it  may  be  enormous.  And  the  manlier, 
more  sincere  and  inspiring  the  man  is,  the 
greater  will  be  his  influence  for  good.  One 
of  the  most  notable  facts  observed  by 
workers  among  boys  is  the  remarkable 
rapidity  with  which  they  become  known  by 
boys  even  far  beyond  the  neighbourhood 
boundary,  which  they  have  fixed  as  the 
probable  limit  of  their  influence. 

The  more  adult  personality  that  is  mixed 
with  the  crowd  of  lads  the  better.  It  is  the 
personality  that  counts  in  securing  and 
maintaining  neighbourhood  influences,  and 
furthermore,  the  adult  personality  has  con- 
siderable to  do  with  preventing  the  club 
from  becoming  a  generating  station  for 


152  A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

rough,  riotous  conduct.  If  it  is  such,  there 
is  a  flaw  in  the  plan  somewhere  that  should 
be  corrected  at  once,  or  the  plan  modified  so 
there  will  be  fewer  boys  and  more  adult  per- 
sonality to  control  the  exuberant  energy  of 
their  riotous  little  souls.  An  open  club 
should,  therefore,  provide  helpful  fellowship 
and  congenial,  wholesome  associations  for 
boys  of  the  street.  And  of  more  importance 
than  this  useful  mission,  is  the  opportunity  it 
offers  for  the  worker  to  get  acquainted  with 
the  boys. 

The  equipment  for  a  club  of  this  kind 
should  include  one  or  more  rooms  that  are 
easily  accessible.  They  should  be  furnished 
with  plain,  attractive,  substantial  furniture. 
The  walls  should  be  made  attractive  with 
well-selected  pictures,  especially  religious 
and  historical  prints.  A  reading-table  should 
be  provided  with  wholesome,  juvenile  peri- 
odicals, together  with  popular  mechanical 
journals,  illustrated  magazines,  etc.  There 
should  be  several  game- tables  with  a  supply 
of  such  games  as  checkers,  chess,  ping-pong, 
crokinole,  parlour  croquet,  shuffle-board, 


A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS  153 

crown  combination  caroms,  saturn,  arch 
arena,  crolard,  flinch,  and  other  similar  card 
games.  Keep  the  reading  and  game  tables 
fresh  by  placing  part  of  the  games  in  reserve 
for  substitution  every  two  or  three  weeks, 
and  by  frequently  replacing  old  periodicals 
with  current  issues. 

Insist  upon  good  discipline  from  the  start. 
Under  some  conditions  it  is  impossible  to 
secure  good  order.  In  the  first  place  the 
boys  should  understand  what  the  club  is  for. 
Don't  admit  too  many  at  the  start.  Begin 
with  a  few  boys.  Educate  them.  Enlist 
their  cooperation,  and  then  admit  a  few  more. 
Club  privileges  will  be  more  appreciated  if 
admission  doesn't  come  too  easy.  Never 
admit  more  boys  to  the  room  than  can  be 
conveniently  accommodated. 

From  the  hour  the  doors  are  first  opened 
for  a  mass  club,  or  similar  organization  for 
boys,  a  number  of  puzzling  and  difficult 
situations  and  questions  will  present  them- 
selves. And  the  worker  will  soon  realize, 
if  he  did  not  know  it  before,  that  an  activity 
among  the  common,  refractory  youngsters  ol 


154  A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

the  street,  must  have  something  more  sub- 
stantial back  of  it  than  sentiment.  The 
worker  is  on  the  safe  side  if  he  first  gives 
more  attention  to  the  development  of  a 
definite  conviction  and  plan  of  procedure 
than  to  the  inflation  of  a  sentimental  "  interest 
in  the  boys "  and  a  desire  to  "  do  some- 
thing." There  is  plenty  to  do.  But  in  work 
with  boys  it  is  good  policy  to  figure  out  how 
a  thing  ought  to  be  done,  before  you  begin. 
If  the  local  conditions  do  not  clearly  suggest 
the  value  of  some  kind  of  a  public  organi- 
zation for  or  among  the  boys  of  the  street, 
it  would  certainly  be  unwise  for  an  adult  to 
become  too  ambitious  and  try  to  tie  another 
appendage  to  a  much  encumbered  town  or 
church. 

There  is,  however,  no  great  danger  that  a 
discerning  adult  will  inflict  any  injury  upon 
a  community  by  organizing  a  boys'  club. 
There  are  usually,  in  most  communities, 
enough  boys  of  several  varieties,  to  encour- 
age the  application  of  all  the  known  schemes 
for  helping  them,  and  when  all  plans  have 
been  faithfully  tried,  there  will,  likely  as  not, 


A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS  155 

be  a  sufficient  number  of  young  chaps  hang- 
ing about  somewhere,  to  give  the  new  and 
ambitious  worker  enough  material  to  work 
with. 

There  are  three  objects  which  a  worker 
should  have  in  mind  when  planning  for  club 
work.  They  are  entertainment,  inspiration, 
and  companionship. 

Entertainment  should  never  be  the  final 
object  in  work  with  boys.  The  question  is 
frequently  discussed.  There  is  cause  to 
ponder  over  the  advisability  of  our  purely 
social  efforts  in  behalf  of  children.  The  boy 
likes  to  be  entertained.  He  is  easily  lured 
by  a  shuffle-board  and  exceedingly  prompt, 
and  much  in  evidence  during  any  exhibition 
of  ice  cream  or  other  commodity  that  costs 
money.  One  has  no  difficulty  in  "  getting 
the  boys  "  so  long  as  the  expenditure  meets 
the  demand.  Indeed,  "  standing  in  with  the 
kids"  is  the  easiest  accomplishment  within 
the  reach  of  mortals,  provided  you  are  a 
generous  giver.  Most  of  us  are  easy  marks, 
or,  if  not  now  guilty,  we  have  been.  Neg- 
lected' children  make  liberal  givers  out  of 


156  A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

sympathetic  adults,  and  the  more  the  adult 
gives  the  more  the  child  expects.  Later,  a 
pampered  lad  stipulates  the  demand,  and  if 
he  doesn't  get  what  he  wants,  he  won't  play  ! 
Many  boys'  clubs  have  for  their  first  and 
final  object,  entertainment.  And  many  boys' 
clubs  are  failures.  We  may  class  them  as 
efficient  because  they  are  patronized.  Be- 
yond the  value  of  providing  a  shelter,  if  a 
club  does  not  educate  or  protect  a  boy's  soul, 
or  awaken  him  to  some  productive  activity, 
it  is  a  menace  to  his  future.  Entertainment, 
therefore,  should  be  given  minor  considera- 
tion. 

Inspiration  is  an  object  of  greater  signifi- 
cance. In  a  mass  club  where  one  or  more 
rooms  are  thrown  open  for  the  free  use  of  a 
large  number  of  boys,  this  factor  may  be  of 
prime  importance.  Inspiration  radiates  from 
subtile  influences.  Maybe  a  lad's  future 
may  be  directed  by  the  inspiration  of  a  pic- 
ture. Perhaps  a  book  may  radiate  the  in- 
fluence. Or  vast  inspiration  may  be  exerted 
by  informal,  round-table  talks.  But  the  most 
valuable  inspiration  to  the  boys  in  a  club, 


A  CLUB   FOR  BOYS  157 

should  emanate  from  the  soul  of  the  worker. 
He  must  be  inspiration.  And  the  more  soul 
he  has  that  strikes  an  affinity  with  the  boys 
of  the  club,  the  greater  will  be  his  influence 
for  good. 

Companionship  is,  above  all  else,  the  ob- 
ject to  be  most  encouraged.  For  this  reason 
and  because  of  the  difficulty  in  trying  to 
extend  a  limited  influence  among  a  large 
number,  we  shall  now  consider  the  group 
club  as  the  most  successful  and  generally 
satisfactory  form  of  church  club  work  with 
boys.  And  the  most  significant  point  about 
the  group  club  is  the  fact  that  the  nearer  its 
membership  approaches  to  the  single,  indi- 
vidual boy,  the  better  will  be  the  worker's 
chance  to  accomplish  his  purpose  of  being 
helpful. 

A  group  club  may  have  its  beginning  in  an 
innumerable  number  of  ways.  We  will  sup- 
pose, for  example,  that  you  have  a  Sunday- 
school  class  of  ten  boys,  between  ten  and 
twelve  years  of  age.  They  are  all  harmo- 
nious fellows,  but  no  more  interested  in  the 
Israelites,  et  al.y  than  is  the  average  lad.  You 


158  A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

want  to  get  better  acquainted  with  them  and 
be  chummy ;  so  one  Sunday  you  ask  them  if 
they  would  like  to  organize  a  club.  They 
would.  You  ask  them  to  spend  the  evening 
at  your  home  the  following  Friday.  Then 
you  bake  a  cake  or,  being  a  man,  you  get  it 
some  other  way,  and  maybe  you  also  secure 
some  ice  cream. 

Friday  evening  you  hear  the  boys  shuffling 
about  on  the  porch  half  an  hour  ahead  of 
time.  But  you  don't  mind  that.  You  are 
tickled  to  see  them,  and  after  all  are  made 
comfortable  in  the  living  room,  you  proceed 
with  the  organization  of  the  club  which  may 
be  called  anything  from  the  "  Apache  Ath- 
letes "  to  the  "  Roosevelt  Club."  Then  you 
elect  your  officers.  It  doesn't  much  matter 
how  many  officers  you  have,  so  long  as  you 
have  enough.  Every  fellow  will  want  a  job. 
After  these  important  official  matters  have 
been  disposed  of,  you  will  talk  over  the  time 
and  place  of  the  future  meetings.  Then  you 
tell  them  an  Indian  story  or  something  more 
edifying — if  anything  else  could  possibly  be 
more  edifying  to  a  bunch  of  boys.  But  if 


A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS  159 

you  do  venture  away  from  the  Indian  tales, 
don't  get  too  near  the  study  of  ethics.  Start 
in  this  very  first  night  and  continue  during 
your  career  with  boys  to  ask  yourself  if  there 
is  enough  boy  in  what  you  say  and  do. 

From  week  to  week  as  your  boys  come 
together  for  their  club  meetings,  you  will 
always  have  some  surprise  or  a  new  plan  or 
story  to  keep  their  interest  alive.  Boys  like 
sudden  and  startling  changes.  The  kind  of 
activity  your  boys  engage  in  at  their  meet- 
ings will  depend  upon  your  personal  gifts 
and  ideas.  If  you  are  trained  in  sloyd  work 
you  will  find  the  boys  much  interested  in 
whittling.  All  sorts  of  handicraft  work  will 
present  attractive,  useful  employment.  Other 
ideas  will  occur  to  the  resourceful  worker. 
Spend  time  with  your  crowd  in  cross-country 
"  hikes."  Go  a-fishing  with  them,  and  then 
help  them  with  their  long-division.  Did  you 
notice  I  said  "  your  crowd  "  ?  If  you  strive 
faithfully  until  they  recognize  the  relation- 
ship, I  shall  expect  you  to  win  the  boys. 
Then  your  club  will  be  a  success.  Meeting 
the  lads  twice  a  week  is  better  than  a  single 


160  A  CLUB  FOR  BOYS 

hour  with  them  in  Sunday-school.  I  doubt 
if  any  teacher  ever  became  really  well  ac- 
quainted with  a  boy  in  the  Sunday-school 
class  or  junior  devotional  meeting.  More  of 
the  lad  is  usually  exposed  during  a  ball  game 
Saturday  morning. 

A  friend  of  mine  who  lives  with  some  boys 
said  to  me  the  other  day  that  his  boys  had 
learned  that  he  is  human.  I  discovered  that 
same  fact  the  day  before  while  his  crowd  had 
him  down  on  his  back  at  the  bottom  of  a 
free-for-all  heap  of  boy-flesh.  He  was  en- 
couraging the  personal  touch.  By  having  a 
part  in  the  spirit  of  boyhood  you  will  have 
a  chance  to  be  chummy.  After  all  is  said 
that  is  the  secret  of  successful  work  with  boys. 


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